Journal of Plant Process and Function

Salvia reuterana Boiss. is a herbaceous permanent plant, belongs to the family of Lamiaceae and is the endemic plant of Iran. The aim of this study was to evaluate changes in the essential oil content and composition of this species, appeared in field conditions (Karaj and Abhar) compared with wild condition (Aradan). The aerial parts of the plants were collected at the flowering stage and essential oils were obtained by hydrodistillation using a Clevenger-type apparatus. The identification of essential oils composition was performed by GC and GC-MS. Bringing this plant from nature habitat in to the cultivation led to increasing in plant height, plant dry weight, oil content and variation of quality and quantity of the essential oils. The results showed that essential oil yield in wild condition and cultivated plants in Karaj and Abhar were 0.14 %, 0.18 % and 0.2 % (w/w), respectively. Forty-seven constituents were identified in the essential oil of Salvia reuterana which 57.5% (twenty-seven components) of them were shared between the all studied localities. Two main constituents of the essential oil of wild population were Germacrene– D (23.15%) and Spathulenol (10.18%). The composition of the essential oil of cultivated plants in Karaj and Abhar show Linalool (21.1% and 17.41%, respectively) and Germacrene–D (19.4% and 16.8%, respectively) as the two major components. The essential oil of cultivated plants in Abhar represented highest amount of monoterpene hydrocarbons, while this fraction was found to be lowest amount in the essential oil of plant growing in Aradan. On the other hand, the lowest and highest amount of sesquiterpene hydrocarbons and total sesquiterpenes in Abhar and Aradan, respectively. It seems that higher average annual temperatures in Aradan led to actuate the essential oil synthesis processes toward sesquiterpenes production in this plant.