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Chemical composition and sesonal variations of Satureja montana L. and S. cuneifolia Ten. essential oils from Brač island

The genus Satureja is represented in Croatia by nine species, five subspecies and seven varieties. In our study we investigated two viz. Satureja montana L. and Satureja cuneifolia Ten.. The plant materials were collected on the island of Brač (Vidova gora and Bol) in three different stages of development: before, during and after flowering. The essential oils of both plants were subjected to a detailed GC-MS analysis. The yield of the essential oil of S. montana ranged from 0.7 % to 1.9 %, and S. cuneifolia 0.1 % to 0.6 %. S. montana shows large variations in the relative concentration of its major components, viz. carvacrol (52.4 before > 26.2 during > 16.1 % after flowering), thymol (11.0 > 5.4 > 2.6 %). Both of this oxygen-containing phenolic monoterpes were found to be the main constituents in all the samples of essential oils, the next most abundant being monoterpenic hydrocarbons, p-cymene and &#947; ; ; -terpinene. S. cuneifolia was rich in &#945; ; ; -pinene (10.9 < 18.9 < 20.7 %) and limonene (9.2 < 15.3 < 17.4 %), also comparatively rich in phenolic monoterpene carvacrol (5.1 > 2.7 > 2.4 %). Thymol and its biosyntetics previously &#947; ; ; -terpinene were not identifaded in period after flowering. It is well known that enviromental conditions and stage of development can affect the relative amounts of essential oil components.

Satureja montana; Satureja cuneifolia; carvacrol; thymol

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