Composition of the essential oils of wild and cultivated Satureja khuzistanica Jamzad from Iran

The essential oils of the wild and cultivated Satureja khuzistanica Jamzad (Lamiaceae) from Iran were isolated by hydrodistillation in yields of 0.6% and 1.2% respectively. The chemical composition of the essential oils was examined by GC and GC-MS. Twelve components of the wild plants' oil, representing 98.5% of the total oil, and 21 components of the cultivated plants' oil, representing 99.2%, were identified. The main components of the wild plants' oil were carvacrol (93.9%), eugenol (1.0%), p-cymene (0.8%) and thymol (0.6%). The major constituents of the cultivated plants' oil were carvacrol (80.6%), p-cymene (4.8%), myrcene (1.5%), gamma-terpinene (2.1%) and terpinene-4-ol (2.1%). In both the wild and cultivated plants the main component of the oil was carvacrol. Copyright (C) 2004 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.