Investigation into the Effect of Environmental Conditions on the Quality and Quantity of Essential Oil of Stachys laxa

However, the purpose of this study is to investigating environmental factors such as slope and soil on the quantity and quality of the essential oil of Stachys laxa. The studied area is Kiasar County in the northern part of Damavand in Mazandaran province. Sampling is carried out from the flowering shoot plants in early June, in both northern and southern directions. After the samples are dried under shadow. About of 100 grams of the dried samples are used to provide the essential oil by using the water distillation method in the Clevenger apparatus. Constituents of the essential oil are identified and analyzed by using the GC and GC-MS. In addition, samples from soil within 0-30 cm depth of the root are taken from both slopes of each transect. A total of 31 components in the southern direction (71,41% essential oil) and 20 components in the northern direction (84,73% essential oil) are recognized. Results showed that the circumstance makes a significant difference in the level of essential oil. In the northern direction, concentrations of nitrogen, pHospHorus, organic materials and moisture in the soil are high and the level of soil acidity is low.