Chemical Composition of the Essential Oil from the Aerial Parts of Satureja hortensis As a Potent Medical Plant Using Traditional Hydrodistillation

Abstract

The water-distilled essential oils, which were obtained from the fresh aerial parts of Satureja hortensis were analyzed by means of GC and CC/MS instruments. The plant was collected during the flowering stage from Foroomad Mountains, Semnan Province, and heart of Iran. Twenty compounds were identified in the different samples analyzed, representing 100% of the total oil contents. In terms of general categories, monoterpene hydrocarbons dominated the chemical profile of the oils with γ-terpinene (27.4%), carvacrol (23.7%), p-cymene (11.1%), α-terpinene (10.2%), α-pinene (5.1%) and myrcene (5.1%) as the main constituent components. The other constituents were found to be α-thujene (3.9%), β-pinene (3.0%), sylvestrene (3.0%), α-phellandrene (1.2%) and (-)-terpinen-4-ol (1.0%).