Bunium persicum: variability in essential oil and antioxidants activity of fruits from different Iranian wild populations

The fruits of Bunium persicum (Boiss.) B. Fedtsch were collected throughout Iran from ten populations and assessed for their essential oil composition and antioxidant activity. The volatiles were analyzed by GC/MS/FID after microdistillation and SPME. All 10 accessions had the same major volatiles roughly in the order gamma-terpinene = cuminal > gamma-terpinen-7-al > p-cymene > limonene > alpha-terpinen-7-al although they origin from quite different sites. Nevertheless these plants that are able to grow in a wide range of environments may present the base for domestication with the aim to optimize essential oil yield with a high proportion of aldehydes. The methanolic extracts of the fruits showed a moderate antioxidant potential.