Composition of essential oil of wild and cultivated Satureja khuzestanica. Revista de Fitoterapia 2002; 2 (S1): 249.

Satureja kuzestanica (Persian name: Marzeh Khozestani) is an endemic plant of Iran that is widely distributed in southern part of Iran. It is renowned as analgesic and antiseptic in folk medicine (1-3). In this research, the composition of the essential oil of the aerial parts, obtained by hydrodistillation using a Clevenger type apparatus, was determined using GC-MS. Varian 3400 GC with a CP Sil DB1 column, 60m x 0.25 mm, combined with a Varian MAT (70 eV) temperature programmed, 4°C/min from 50 to 250°C, with He as the carrier gas was used. Identification of components was based on comparison of their retention times with those of analytical standards of available terpenoids, and matching mass spectral data of oil constituents according to the literature (4,5). The major constituents of the oil were carvacrol (90%), eugenol (3.6%), 2-methoxy-4-isopropylphenol (1%) and p-cymene (0.8%). The remaining compounds (thirteen components) were less than 0.7%. The major constituents of the cultivated plant were carvacrol (81%), p-cymene (5%), myrcene (1.5%), ã-terpinene (2%), and 4-terpineol (2%). The remaining 19 components were less than 1%. In both, the wild and cultivated plant, carvacrol was the major component. However, either the percentage or the structure of other major components were not the same.