Phytochemical variation of the essential oils of different populations of Achillea nobilis L

The Achillea genus has 19 herbaceous aromatic species in Iran, six of them 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 were collected from different provinces of Iran and cultivated in the field of Alborz Research Station, Karaj, Iran. In order to compare the essential oil content and composition, flowering shoots 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). Results showed that the oil yields varied from 0.33% to 1.44%. Semnan sample was produced the minimum amount of oil yield whereas Kordistan population had maximum oil yild. Cluster analysis divided all accessions into two clusters. The main compound in the oils of first cluster was artmisia ktone. The highest amount of Artemisia ketone (85.5%) was found in the oil of Sanandaj population. In the oil of Ghorghan-2, 84.5%, Maraveh Taph 81.6%, Zanjan-1 81.3%, Golestan-2, 80.2% and Golestan-3, 80.1% of Artemisia ketone were identified. In the oils of cluster 2, the percentage of Artemisia ketone was very low. The accessions contained alpha-thujone, beta-thujone and 1, 8-cineole in their oils. Hamedan-2 population was a rich sourc of cis-chrysanthenol, Gorgan-1 and Khoramabad populations were the rich sources of alpha-thujone and Gorgan-1 contained highest amount of beta-thujone.