Essential-oil diversity of Salvia tomentosa Mill. in Greece

Abstract

Salvia tomentosa essential oils from Greece were studied for the first time here. The oils from five populations growing in Mediterranean pine forests on the island of Thassos (northern Aegean Sea) and from 14 populations situated in deciduous forests in Thrace (northeastern Greek mainland) were investigated. Their essential-oil contents ranged from 1.1 to 3.3% (v/w, based on the dry weight of the plant material). The populations from Thassos had high contents of α-pinene (18.0 ± 2.9%), 1,8-cineole (14.7 ± 3.0%), cis-thujone (14.0 ± 6.9%), and borneol (12.8 ± 2.2%) and smaller amounts of camphene, camphor, and β-pinene, whereas the populations from Thrace showed high α-pinene (16.7 ± 4.0%), β-pinene (22.8 ± 4.5%), camphor (18.3 ± 4.3%), and camphene (10.3 ± 2.4%) contents, much lower 1,8-cineole and borneol amounts, while cis-thujone was completely lacking. The comparison of the present results with published data showed that oils having cis-thujone as one of the main compounds were reported for the first time here. Multivariate statistical analyses indicate that the observed essential-oil variation was related to geographical and environmental factors.

Keywords: 1,8-Cineole; Borneol; Camphor; Essential oils; Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA); Principal component analysis (PCA); Salvia tomentosa; cis-Thujone; α- and β-Pinene.