Abstract
The most important process in immortelle is the extraction of the essential oil by distillation. The chemical properties of the plant depend largely on the cultivation type, climatic conditions and agrotechnical measures. In this work, studies were carried out on organically grown and wild immortelle harvested during the summer (July) and autumn (October) seasons of 2020. Immortelle samples were prepared by drying naturally in two ways: in direct sunlight and in shade. To extract the essential oil, immortelle was distilled in two ways: on an industrial and a laboratory scale. The essential oil was analyzed by gas chromatography to determine the composition and quality of the essential oil. The results of this work showed that the qualitative properties of the essential oil were influenced by the cultivation type, harvesting time, preparation method and distillation method. A higher yield (0.21% ± 0.03) of essential oil was obtained from wild immortelle whereas a better utilization rate (0.38% ± 0.09) of essential oil was obtained from the organically grown immortelle. It was also found that a higher yield of essential oil was obtained from the summer harvest (0.19% ± 0.01) and a higher utilization rate from the autumn harvest (0.33% ± 0.13) with the industrial scale distillation and shade drying. In general, better qualitative properties of immortelle essential oil were obtained from wild immortelle, which was confirmed by a chromatographic analysis and better content of γ-curcumene (16.64% ± 0.30) and neryl acetate (8.15% ± 0.19) and other constituents except α-pinene where organically grown had a higher share (24.27% ± 0.97).
Highlights
Based on the obtained results, the qualitative properties of the essential oil of organiwild immortelle are shown in Figure 1 and Table 1, i.e., the influence of harvest time, the cultivation type, the method of preparation and the method of distillation on the yield of the essential oil
Based on the results obtained on organically grown and wild immortelle in the area of Central Dalmatia during summer and autumn harvesting, it can be concluded that the timing of harvesting affects the yield and the degree of utilization of the essential oil as well as the α-pinene and γ-curcumene content
Shade drying of immortelle led to a higher yield of essential oil
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Immortelle (Helichrysum italicum) is a typical Mediterranean plant belonging to the composite family Asteraceae, which includes more than 600 different species. Immortelle grows at altitudes up to 1700 m above sea level, usually on sandy or acid clay soils [1]. It consists of three subspecies: Helichrysum italicum (Roth) G. Italicum [1,2,3] Don subsp. italicum [1,2,3]
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