Study of morphological and phytochemical diversity among six (Satureja spp.) in East Azerbaijan province.

Savory (Satureja spp.), due to its essential oil compounds such as thymol and carvacrol, has a special place among medicinal plants. In this study, transplants of 18 accessions of six species of savory originated from five provinces of Iran, cultivated in a randomized complete block design with three replications in Tikmehdash station of East Azerbaijan, Iran. Morphological and phytochemical traits were recorded over two years. Results showed high diversity between and within the species. Among the species, S. spicigera (Ganjeh accession from Guilan)with the highest essential oil yield (20.4 kg/h) and S. sahendica (Zinjanab accession from East Azerbaijan)with the highest establishment rate early flowering date coupled the highest amount of thymol were identified as the most compatible species. Thymol content had a positive correlation with aerial floral weight and leaf area. In cluster analysis, the species were divided into three groups: S.bachtiarica from Yazd in group 1, S. mutica from North Khorasan in group 2 and species adapted to East Azerbaijan climate: S. spicigera, S. sahendica, S. atropatana and S.macrantha in group 3. In the principle components analysis, selection based on the first and second components leads to the selection of species with high essential oil yield and oil quality, respectively. Distribution of the accession/species in the biplot diagram based on the first and second components was in agreement with the results of cluster analysis. According to the results, for cold regions, early or moderate maturity species with high proportion of leaf and flower to stem and high leaf area should be selected and the performance components should be raised to a degree that does not reduce essential oil efficiency.