Eessential Oil Composition of Achillea filipendulina, A. arabica and A. eriophora Cultivated under Temperate Climate in Iran

Abstract

The <em>Achillea </em>L. genus has a wide distributional range, and the differences in oil composition may be affected by different environmental factors such as soil mineral fertilization, the climate conditions and the culture site. To evaluate the effect of temperate climate on content and chemical combination of essential oil of <em>Achillea filipendulina</em> Lam, <em>A. arabica </em>Kotschy and<em> A. eriophora </em>DC.<em>, </em>this study was carried out.Essential oils were analyzed by GC and GC/MS. Yield of essential oil of<em> A. filipendulina</em>, <em>A. arabica </em>and<em> A. eriophora</em> cultivated was 0.9, 2.25 and 2.3%, respectively .The major components of <em>A. filipendulina </em>were santolina alcohol (37.2%), borneol (12.7%),1,8- cineole (8.7%), germacrene D (6.22%), and camphor (4.09%). In <em>A. arabica, </em>the major compounds were <em>p</em>-cymene (14.61%), piperitone (13.09%), camphor (12.81%) and 1, 8-cineole (11.97%). In <em>A. eriophora</em>, principal compounds were camphor (19.57%), 1, 8-cineole (19.06%), camphene (9.61%) and α-pinene (7.35%). Our results demonstrate variations in the qualitative and quantitative composition in the oils obtained from the aerial parts of the studied species. Also, chemical profile of <em>A. filipendulina</em> was slightly affected under temperate climatic conditions, suggesting its ability and flexibility to be cultivated in temperate zones.