Influence of Harvest Time, Method of Preparation and Method of Distillation on the Qualitative Properties of Organically Grown and Wild Helichrysum italicum Immortelle Essential Oil

Abstract

The most important process in immortelle is the extraction of the essential oil by distillation. The chemical properties of the plant depend largely on the cultivation type, climatic conditions and agrotechnical measures. In this work, studies were carried out on organically grown and wild immortelle harvested during the summer (July) and autumn (October) seasons of 2020. Immortelle samples were prepared by drying naturally in two ways: in direct sunlight and in shade. To extract the essential oil, immortelle was distilled in two ways: on an industrial and a laboratory scale. The essential oil was analyzed by gas chromatography to determine the composition and quality of the essential oil. The results of this work showed that the qualitative properties of the essential oil were influenced by the cultivation type, harvesting time, preparation method and distillation method. A higher yield (0.21% ± 0.03) of essential oil was obtained from wild immortelle whereas a better utilization rate (0.38% ± 0.09) of essential oil was obtained from the organically grown immortelle. It was also found that a higher yield of essential oil was obtained from the summer harvest (0.19% ± 0.01) and a higher utilization rate from the autumn harvest (0.33% ± 0.13) with the industrial scale distillation and shade drying. In general, better qualitative properties of immortelle essential oil were obtained from wild immortelle, which was confirmed by a chromatographic analysis and better content of γ-curcumene (16.64% ± 0.30) and neryl acetate (8.15% ± 0.19) and other constituents except α-pinene where organically grown had a higher share (24.27% ± 0.97).

Antioxidant and Antibacterial Activity of Helichrysum italicum (Roth) G. Don. from Central Europe

“…This parameter depends not only on the plant organ (raw material). According to some authors, it is related to the developmental stage of the plant, too [16,41,43]. In the essential oils obtained in our study, 33 compounds were identified, accounting for 94.71% of the total identified fraction in the herb, and 94.75% in the inflorescences.…”

“…In our study, the content of essential oil was higher in the inflorescences (0.31 g × 100 g −1 ) than in the herb (0.25 g × 100 g −1 ) (Table 2). According to the literature data, the content of essential oil in the herb of H. italicum may vary from 0.08 to 0.32%, while in the inflorescences from 0.10 to 0.18% [16,[41][42][43]. This parameter depends not only on the plant organ (raw material).…”

Seasonal Variations in Essential Oil Composition of Immortelle Cultivated in Serbia

“…For this reason, choosing the appropriate plant genetics, climate, and soil, as well as altitude, are important parameters that may significantly influence the EO content and composition [8][9][10]. Further, harvest time and distillation method could also significantly affect the plant's EO content and profile [11][12][13].…”

GERMINAÇÃO E PRODUÇÃO DE SEMENTES DE JAMBU (Acmella oleracea (L.) R. K. Jansen) EM DIFERENTES ÉPOCAS DE COLHEITA NA REGIÃO AMAZÔNICA DO BRASIL

“…Os estudos de Ascrizzi et al (14) , Salama e Khater (15) , Matin et al (16) e Oliveira et al (17) apresentam indícios da influência das épocas de colheita na produtividade das espécies da família Asteraceae. Assim, o presente estudo busca contribuir com a produção de jambu na Amazônia, ao indicar os períodos de colheita que podem otimizar a produção de sementes crioulas.…”