Abstract
Satureja pilosa Velen. senso lato is a Balkan endemic plant that is not well characterized and is found on rocky outcrops of limestone base in Stara Planina (the Balkan Mountains) and the Rhodope Mountains. The objective of this study was to assess the variability of essential oil (EO) content and composition of S. pilosa collected at 33 locations across the Balkan and Rhodope Mountains in Bulgaria using advanced statistical methods including cluster analysis. The EO content in dried aboveground biomass varied from 0.52% to 2.03%. More than 21 EO constituents were identified, belonging to the groups of monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes. The monoterpenes were the predominant class, comprising 84.8% to 96.1% of the total EO. Thymol and carvacrol were the major constituents of the phenolic monoterpenoids. Thymol varied from 36.6% to 67.1% and carvacrol varied from 52.4% to 93.0% of the total oil. p-Cymene also varied widely, from 9.6%–34.0%. There were significant variations between locations and within a location in the EO content and composition. This study identified several chemotypes: (1) thymol and p-cymene; (2) thymol, p-cymene and γ-terpinene; (3) carvacrol and p-cymene; (4) carvacrol, p-cymene and γ-terpinene; and (5) carvacrol. This is the first comprehensive study on the endemic plant S. pilosa that identified several chemotypes based on the EO composition. The S. pilosa EO from the five different chemotypes exhibited larvicidal and mosquito repellent activity against Aedes aegypti. The identified chemotypes can be utilized for the development of new varieties with desirable compositions to meet specific industry needs and new mosquito management control products.
Highlights
The genus Satureja (Lamiaceae) includes about 235 savory species of aromatic plants [1]
There was a significant variation in the essential oil (EO) content and composition of S. pilosa samples collected from different locations
Voucher specimens of Satureja pilosa were deposited at the Herbarium of the Agricultural University, Plovdiv, Bulgaria (SOA) [41]
Summary
The genus Satureja (Lamiaceae) includes about 235 savory species of aromatic plants [1]. They are widespread in the Mediterranean region, Asia, and America [2]. In Europe, there are 12 naturally distributed Satureja (savory) species [3], of which 5 species are found in the Bulgarian flora [4]. Molecules 2020, 25, 827 broad pharmacological activities, including more than 50 different activities of savory herbage and EO. These activities were reported mostly for the annual S. hortensis L. Various activities have been reported such as antioxidant, antibacterial, and antifungal efficacy [9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17]; cytotoxic activity [18]; and insecticidal and insect repellent activity [19]
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