Analysis of the essential oil components from different Carum copticum L. samples from Iran

Background

The family Apiaceae is defined with the diversity of essential oil. Fruits of Ajwain (Carum copticum), a famous herb of Apiaceae, accumulate up to 5% essential oil which is remarked as important natural product for food and flavoring industry, as well as pharmacological approaches. It is believed that differences in essential oil profile in a certain plant are resulted from various cultivation situations and locations, time of cultivation and also different extracting method.

Objective

Present study aimed to evaluate major components of ten different collected Ajwain samples from random cultivation locations of Iran.

Materials and Methods

Samples were individually subjected to hydrodistillation using a Clevenger-type apparatus for the extraction of essential oil. GC/MS analysis for samples was carried out using Agilent technologies model 7890A gas chromatograph with a mass detector.

Results

The yield of extracted essential oil was calculated as 2.2 to 4.8% (v/w) for ten samples. Major oil components were thymol, para-cymene and gamma-terpinene. Five of ten samples have thymol as the main component with amount of 35.04 to 63.31%. On the other hand, for four samples, para-cymene was major with amount of 40.20 to 57.31% and one sample had gamma-terpinene as main constituent containing 37.43% of total oil. Accordingly, three different chemotypes, thymol, para-cymene and gamma-terpinene can be speculated from collected samples.

Conclusion

While these components possess pharmacological effect, screening of different chemotypes not only represent the effect of cultivation situations and locations but also can be beneficial in further investigation.