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. 2022 Feb 24;11(5):612.
doi: 10.3390/plants11050612.

Variation of the Chemical Composition of Essential Oils and Total Phenols Content in Natural Populations of Marrubium vulgare L

Mounira Guedri Mkaddem  1 , Ahlem Zrig  2 , Mariem Ben Abdallah  1 , Mehrez Romdhane  1 , Mohammad K Okla  3 , Abdulrahman Al-Hashimi  3 , Yasmeen A Alwase  3 , Momtaz Y Hegab  4 , Mahmoud M Y Madany  5 , Abdelrahim H A Hassan  6 , Gerrit T S Beemster  7 , Hamada AbdElgawad  7   8
Affiliations

Variation of the Chemical Composition of Essential Oils and Total Phenols Content in Natural Populations of Marrubium vulgare L

Mounira Guedri Mkaddem et al. Plants (Basel). .

Abstract

Marrubium vulgare is a valuable source of natural bioactive molecules with high preventive and therapeutic effectiveness. Therefore, this study aimed to study the chemical polymorphism of natural populations of M. vulgare in Tunisia by quantitative chemical markers and the estimation of divergence between populations. Phytochemical analyses of the eight natural populations of Tunisian Marrubium vulgare prospected in different bioclimatic stages, revealed 42 compounds of essential oils representing 96.08% to 100% of the total oil. Hydrocarbon sesquiterpenes were the main fraction of all the populations studied and β-bisabolene was the major compound (from 30.11% to 71.35% of the total oil). The phytochemical investigation of the M. vulgare plant indicated the presence of essential oil with significant percentages of phenolic compounds. A significant quantitative and qualitative variation in the essential oils is detected for both major and minor compounds. The principal components analysis (PCA) performed in the single and combined traits provides a good distinction among populations, not according to their geographical and/or bioclimatic origins. Moreover, the phytochemical analysis of the leaves showed that the Tunisian populations, i.e., the populations of Kasserine, Kef, and Beja, were very rich in phenolic compounds (from 20.8 to 44.65 mg GAE/g DW). Flavonoids compounds were also the main class of total polyphenols present in all the tested populations (from 8.91 to 37.48 mg RE/g DW). The quantitative genetic diversity estimated by the population's structure, based on PCA analysis, was an adaptation to the changes in the environmental conditions. Overall, our study indicated that natural populations of M. vulgare had different chemotypes of essential oils and they were rich in phenolic compounds, particularly flavonoids, which opens a new prospect for industrial use and differential exploitation of this species.

Keywords: GC–MS; Marrubium vulgare; essential oil; population’s structure; variability.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Principal components analysis (PCA) performed on the major essential oil component for the eight M. vulgare populations analyzed. Plots according to the two axes, 1–2. Numbers indicates the populations (P1: Beja, P2: Bizerte, P3: Nabeul, P4: Sousse, P5: Zagouan, P6: Kef, P7: Kasserine, P8: Gabes).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Changes in the total polyphenols in the leaves of the eight M. vulgare L. populations.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Changes in the total flavonoids in leaves of the eight M. vulgare L. populations.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Principal components analysis (PCA) performed on the levels of polyphenol and flavonoids content for the eight M. vulgare L. populations analyzed. Plots according to axis 1–2. Number indicates the populations (P1: Beja, P2: Bizerte, P3: Nabeul, P4: Sousse, P5: Zagouan, P6: Kef, P7: Kasserine, P8: Gabes).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Principal components analysis (PCA) performed on essential oil component polyphenol and flavonoids markers combined for the eight M. vulgare L. populations analyzed. Plots according to the two axes 1–2. Numbers indicate the populations (P1: Beja, P2: Bizerte, P3: Nabeul, P4: Sousse, P5: Zaouan, P6: Kef, P7: Kasserine, P8: Gabès).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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