Chemical Composition of Essential Oils of Aromatic and Medicinal Herbs Cultivated in Greece—Benefits and Drawbacks

Abstract

The current study investigated and determined the major compounds of six essential oils derived from different plant species cultivated in Greece (Lavandula angustifolia, Origanum vulgare, Pistacia lentiscus var. chia, Citrus reticulata, Citrus limon and Crithmum maritimum). The results proved that all these essential oils have a high potential for use as food preservatives, since among the compounds determined were sabinene, b-myrcene, a-pinene, carvacrol and limonene, all of which were responsible for the strong antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus. However, the amounts of some compounds, such as linalool and citral, were at high levels, and this can be a danger for some sensitive population groups due to allergic reactions. The essential oil compounds which were identified using GC-MS and quantified through GC-FID represented more than 95% of the total essential oils of the investigated plant species. Finally, all essential oils provided high phenolic content.

Origanum vulgare ssp. hirtum (Lamiaceae) Essential Oil Prevents Behavioral and Oxidative Stress Changes in the Scopolamine Zebrafish Model

“…At a non-negligible percentage and a percentage higher than 1%, there were α-thujene (1.52%, monoterpene hydrocarbon), carvacrol methyl ether (3.11%, oxygenated monoterpene), and β-bisabolene (1.27%, sesquiterpene). The results are in accordance with Pasias et al [ 36 ], who revealed two main compounds, carvacrol (74.20%) and p -cymene (8.20%), in the case of O. vulgare essential oil analysis. Qiao et al [ 37 ] reported that the main constituents of O. vulgare essential oil are phenols carvacrol (75.72%) and thymol (2.44%).…”

The Increase of Soft Cheese Shelf-Life Packaged with Edible Films Based on Novel Hybrid Nanostructures

“…ADAMS, Wiley275, NIST, and in-house created libraries were used for the compounds’ identification. The method for this identification was by comparing the retention times and the mass spectra of volatiles [ 58 , 59 ].…”

Designing active chitosan-based biofilms loaded with the mixture of herbal essential oils and reinforced with nanofibers: Their effects on the shelf life and sensory properties of red meat

“…(13), which is consistent with the results of this research. The EO obtained from gracile and virens species of Origanum vulgare grown in France was rich in chemical compounds sabinene and germacrine D (23), while the thymol, gamma-terpinene, beta-caryophyllene, alpha-terpinolene, p-cymene and carvacrol have been reported as the main components of the EO of the Origanum vulgare plant grown in Turkey (24). All this indicates that there are some differences between the various results which is probably due to different environmental and genetic factors, nutritional status, harvesting time, and also the part of the plant that was used to extract the EO.…”