Abstract
Salvia chloroleuca Rech. f. & Aell. is one of the perennial species of the Lamiaceae family in Iran, which has antimicrobial and antitumoural properties. In the current research, the morphological variables and hydrodistilled essential oils of two populations, from Polor and Neyshabur, of this species were evaluated. We studied 10 and 40 individuals for morphometrics and essential oils, respectively. Morphological data were analyzed using SPSS. Furthermore, the extracted oils were analysed using GC and GC/MS. The qualitative morphological characteristics were stable between the populations, while the quantitative ones highly varied. The one-sample variance test revealed significant differences for most of the studied features. The yielded oil highly differed between these populations. The first and second main groups of compounds were the same for both populations, but with different percentages. However, the third and fourth main groups of compounds were not similar. Furthermore, the main compounds of essential oil differed between the studied populations. The major compounds of the Polor population were: β-pinene (22.7%), α-pinene (18.3%), germacrene D (7.7%) and sabinene (6.6%). However, spathulenol (19.8%), bicyclogermacrene (11.4%), p-cymene (10.8%) and β-pinene (10.4%) constituted the major compounds of the Nyshabur population. In total, the Neyshabur population had higher amounts of sesquiterpene and oxygenated compounds than the other population. The results indicated that in this species the quantitative morphological characters and essential oils were strongly affected by environmental factors.
Highlights
The essential oils of aromatic plants are made of a relatively large group of plant natural products and reveal a complex mixture of several compounds such as terpenes, fatty acid degradation products, phenylpropanoids, and hydrocarbons of different biogenetic origins
Volatile compounds represent a wide range of biological effects on different organisms like bacteria, Yarmohammadi et al, (2017) have suggested that difference in essential oil compositions proved the possibility of chemical polymorphism among various populations of the same taxon
Most important morphological characteristics differed between the studied populations (Table 2)
Summary
The essential oils of aromatic plants are made of a relatively large group of plant natural products and reveal a complex mixture of several compounds such as terpenes, fatty acid degradation products, phenylpropanoids, and hydrocarbons of different biogenetic origins. These compounds are primarily involved in plants’ defense against pathogens and herbivores, attraction of pollinators and plant-plant communication. The pharmacological activity of the same plant species could differ due to variation in composition of essential oil (Potzernheim et al, 2006; Paula et al, 2011). Several investigations (Palkovacs & Post, 2009; Govaert et al, 2016) have indicated that infraspecific difference may influence community structure and ecosystem function as much as variation among species
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
