The influence of duration of the distillation of fresh and dried flowers on the essential oil composition of lavandin cultivated in Republic of Macedonia

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to analyze the essential oil composition of cultivated lavandin (Lavandula x intermedia Emeric ex Loisel., Lamiaceae) from Republic of Macedonia and to evaluate the influence of the drying time of plant material and the distillation duration on the oil composition. Four different essential oils were obtained by hydrodistillation in a Clevenger type apparatus from freshly harvested and air dried flowers of lavandin and varying in distillation time (30 min and 2 h). Fifty-six compounds were identified by GC/ FID/MS representing 96.57% to 98.23% of the total oil. Prevailing constituents in all tested oils were linalool, borneol and terpinene-4-ol, present in amounts from 35.23 to 42.24%, 12.28 to 16.68% and 4.44 to 5.62%, respectively. The content of 1,8-cineole varied from 3.99% to 8.42% while that of camphor was between 5.96% and 7.04%. Linalyl acetate was present in amounts from 1.26% to 3.21%. Unexpectedly, the duration of distillation insignificantly influenced the essential oil composition. Few differences, mainly in the content of borneol (13.71% and 16.68% in the oil from fresh and dried flowers, respectively) were recorded in the essential oils obtained by 30 minutes distillation, while the content of the other constituents was almost unchanged. However, the isolated essential oils of lavandin did not comply with the international standards requirements for the lavandin essential oil composition.