Morphological, Biochemical, and Molecular Analysis of Origanum vulgare L.

Abstract

Background: The variation on morphological, biochemical, and genetic characters is very important in germplasm management and conservation strategies. Objective: To determine the diversity of 23 accessions from Origanum vulgare L. and a commercial cultivar on the basis of agronomical, biochemical and genetic features. Methods: Different characters related to vegetative growth and essential oil production were studied while the genetic relationships between the individuals were evaluated with the use of Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism. Results: Despite the accessions exhibited cymyl- and acyclic-compounds, all the essential oil chemotypes according to the prevalence of essential oil fractions were phenotypically varied. A considerable amount of biomass with maximum values in plant height was achieved by thymol/γ-terpinene chemotype and carvacrol chemotype making them of particular interest for the production of high-quality plant material and further for the mechanical harvest. The AFLP analysis, performed using 10 primer combinations, to obtain a dendrogram of genetic similarity, revealed a genetic variability that could be useful for the selection of the proper genetic groups in future breeding programs. Conclusion: We identified two chemotypes thymol/γ-terpinene and carvacrol with their suitability for the production of biomass and essential oil and for the mechanical harvest. The results of the molecular characterization of the species may support and contribute to breeding programmes for agronomic and biochemical traits.

Essential Oils from Origanum vulgare subsp. virens (Hoffmanns. & Link) Ietsw. Grown in Portugal: Chemical Diversity and Relevance of Chemical Descriptors

“…Comparison of the obtained results with those of previous studies on Portuguese O. vulgare EOs [ 6 , 14 , 18 , 21 , 22 , 27 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 ] confirmed the variability in the chemical profile of oregano EOs, for individual compounds and even for their biosynthetic pathway. This variability was also reported for EO of the same species, isolated in different years and other countries [ 23 , 30 , 44 , 45 , 46 ].…”

“…The range and diversity of the main oregano EO constituents are high, as confirmed in the present study, particularly in thymol and carvacrol content. Since these phenol-like monoterpenes impair pungent oregano flavour with high commercial potential [ 2 , 51 , 52 ], this may open a field of the improvement of oregano cultivars of great economic importance [ 45 ].…”

“…which confirm this species’ essential oil diversity. Sicilian oregano was found to be rich in thymol [ 45 , 54 ] while in Greek plants’ EOs, carvacrol was the dominant compound [ 51 ]. In Iranian oregano EO chemotypes, ( Z )-α-bisabolene and linalyl acetate were also documented [ 44 ].…”

A Recent Insight Regarding the Phytochemistry and Bioactivity of Origanum vulgare L. Essential Oil

“…viridulum (Martrin-Donos) Nyman, and subsp. vulgare [ 2 , 5 ]. The first three subspecies are typical for the southern range of the species and considered to be of high quality and rich in volatile oils, as opposed to the last three subspecies vegetating in more Northern regions, and poorer in essential oils [ 6 ].…”

Chemical Composition, Antimicrobial activity, In Vitro Cytotoxicity and Leukotoxin Neutralization of Essential Oil from Origanum vulgare against Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans

“…It belongs to Lamiaceae family, and it is known for being a rich source of EOs, which have proven to possess a large variety of biological activities because of their chemical compounds [18]. The abundance of different compounds of EOs of Origanum species may show some variations because of ecological and environmental effects, geographical location, and time of collection [19][20][21].…”