A report of a chemotype from Achillea nobilis L. rich in cis-chrysanthenol and comparing the essential oils compositions of flower, leaf, stem and flowering shoot

The Achillea genus has 19 herbaceous aromatic species in Iran, of which six species are endemic. One of the native species of this genus is Achillea nobilis. In traditional medicine, different parts of Achillea species are used because of antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, antihistamine and antioxidant properties. In this research, the seeds of Achillea nobilis L. were collected from Hamedan province and cultivated in the field of Alborz Research Station, Karaj, Iran. In order to comparing the essential oil content and composition, flowering shoots and individual plant parts (flower, leaf and stem) were collected in full flowering stage. The plant materials were dried at shade and their essential oils were obtained by hydro-distillation. The oils were analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The highest oil yield was obtained from flowers (1.32%) and the lowest from stems (0.14%). The oil yield of flowering shoot and leaf was 0.85% and 0.62%, respectively. The main components of flower and leaf oil were cis-chrysanthenol (47.1% and 50.8%) and α-thujone (8.8% and 9.1%), respectively. The essential oil of stem with 19.7% cubenol, 19.2% indipone, 15.4% cis-chrysanthenol and 9.9% intermedol was completely different with leaf and flower oils. The major compounds of flowering shoot's essential oil were cis-chrysanthenol (41.7%), α-thujone (10.2%) and camphor (8.1%). According to these results, the studied sample could be introduced as a new chemotype of Achillea nobilis with higher percentage of cis-chrysanthenol. In addition, since the essential oil composition of flowering shoot is near to leaf and flower oils, the distillation of flowering shoot of this chemotype is recommended for obtaining more essential oil content.