Chemical Variability of the Essential Oils from Two Portuguese Apiaceae: Coriandrum sativum L. and Foeniculum vulgare Mill.

Abstract

Coriandrum sativum L. and Foeniculum vulgare Mill. are two aromatic and medicinal Apiaceae species commonly grown in Portugal, whose essential oils (EOs) are used in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetics industries. The present study evaluated EOs isolated from the fruits and vegetative aerial parts (VAPs) of 11 samples of Coriandrum sativum L. and from the fruits of 19 samples of Foeniculum vulgare Mill. The plant material was grown in experimental fields, after collection from several regions of mainland Portugal. The EOs were isolated by hydrodistillation and analyzed by gas chromatography and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The coriander EOs analysis evidenced two main clusters, with the first containing the fruits’ EOs dominated by linalool (60–73%), γ-terpinene, and α-pinene and the second with the VAPs’ EOs, which showed 2-trans-decenal (37–63%) and n-decanal (13–30%) as the main compounds. The fennel EOs analysis revealed two well correlated clusters, the first dominated by estragole (34–76%) and fenchone (16–30%) and the other dominated by trans-anethole (37–56%) and fenchone (14–34%). The present data suggest coriander EOs’ chemical descriptors as linalool for the fruits’ EOs and 2-trans-decenal with n-decanal for the VAPs’ EOs. For the fennel fruit EOs, the putative descriptors were trans-anethole and estragole, with variable fenchone content. The gathered data reinforce the relevance of clarifying variability of these species’ EOs, particularly when considering aromatic and medicinal plants with such a wide range of applications.

Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) from Alentejo (South Portugal)—Ethnobotany and Potential Industrial Use

“…The yields, as well as the general composition of both API and fruits EOs agree with what was reported for this species EOs, isolated both from plants grown in Portugal or in other countries, as described by Machado et al [48]. Most commonly, coriander aerial parts EOs are dominated, in variable amounts, by 2-trans-decenal, n-decanal, 2-trans-dodecenal, 2-trans-decen-1-ol, among other components as detailed in references in Machado et al [48]. More consistently, the fruits EOs are dominated by linalool, most published data being within ISO specifications (65-78%) [48,53].…”

“…Most commonly, coriander aerial parts EOs are dominated, in variable amounts, by 2- trans -decenal, n -decanal, 2- trans -dodecenal, 2- trans -decen-1-ol, among other components as detailed in references in Machado et al [ 48 ]. More consistently, the fruits EOs are dominated by linalool, most published data being within ISO specifications (65–78%) [ 48 , 53 ].…”

“…The EOs of 11 samples were obtained by hydrodistillation (HD), using a Clevenger apparatus [ 36 ], and analyzed by Gas Chromatography (GC) and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) for component quantification and identification [ 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 ], respectively, according to Machado et al [ 48 ], as fully detailed in Supplementary Material Section S2.3 .…”