Comparative study of chemical composition of the essential oils from Satureja Cuneifolia ten. and Satureja Montana L., Lamiaceae collected at National Park Lovcen, Montenegro

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was an investigation of the chemical composition of essential oils obtained from Satureja cuneifolia Ten. and S. montana L. collected at the National park Lovćen, Montenegro. The qualitative and quantitative analysis of the essential oils, performed by GC/MS and GC/FID, indicated that the most abundant compound in S. cuneifolia essential oil was oxygenated monoterpene linalool (20.3%). Within the sesquiterpene compounds, trans-(E)-caryophyllene (6.1%), germacrene D (5.8%), nerolidol (5.2%) and spathulenol (5.0%) were present in relatively high quantities. Conversely, S. montana essential oil was abundant in monoterpenes, with p-cymene being the main constituent (16.6%). Besides, limonene (10.8%), thymol (6.5%), a-pinene (6.1%) and borneol (5.5%) were present in a high percentage. The results indicated that investigated Satureja species essential oils possessed different chemical composition, but both might represent an interesting resource of pharmacologically active compounds.