Production of essential oils by flowers of Hyacinthus orientalis L. regenerated in vitro

Abstract

Essential oils were produced by flowers of Hyacinthus orientalis L. that had been regenerated in vitro. The production of these oils was affected by the concentration of gibberellic acid and sucrose in the medium and by temperature. The highest concentration of essential oils was obtained when regenerated flowers were cultured in vitro for 3 weeks at 20 °C on Murashige and Skoog's medium that contained 30 g/l sucrose plus 1 mg/l gibberellic acid, whereas the highest amount of essential oils was obtained after a culture period of 3 weeks at 25 °C. The composition of essential oils from flowers that had been regenerated in vitro was compared with that from flowers grown in the field. Essential oils detected by gas-liquid chromatography included nine components in the case of the regenerated flowers and six and ten components in the case of stage 3 and stage 4 flowers grown in the field, respectively. There were four common components, namely, 1-hepten-3-ol, benzyl alcohol, phenethyl alcohol and cinnamyl alcohol. In the regenerated flowers, a single component, phenethyl alcohol, was a major constituent (75%), whereas two compounds, phenethyl alcohol (stage 3, 55%; stage 4, 48%) and cinnamyl alcohol (stage 3, 23%; stage 4, 29%) were the major constituents in the case of flowers grown in the field. Four and five other components were specific to flowers regenerated in vitro and field-grown flowers, respectively.