Evaluation of phytochemical profiling of damask rose (Rosa damascena Mill.) at various post-harvest incubation conditions and determination of the best hydro-distillation time

Damask rose (Rosa damascena Mill.) is one of economically important species of the Rosaceaefamily for production of rose oil and rose water. High respiration rate of harvested flowers resulting from increasing temperature inside the stacks of flowers causes a reduction in the quantity and quality of essential oil. In order to study the effects of different storage conditions on essential oil yield and composition، we conducted a factorial analysis based on completely randomized design with three replications and factors of storage durations، temperatures، and incubation conditions. In addition، the effects of different duration of distillation process were investigated using a completely randomized design experiment in three replications by considering quality and quantity of extracted essential oils. Identification of chemical compositions of essential oils was performed by GC and GC/MS. The results indicated that the storage of Damask rose petals in water at 4°C، especially for 48 hours، resulted in a good amount of essential oil content as well as compositions compared to the other storage methods and even fresh petals، distillated just after harvesting. Moreover، the essential oil content increased by increasing the duration of distillation، so that a distillation time of 3 hours and 3. 5 hours was identified as the best time for the oil extraction process in terms of yield and essential oil compounds.