title: Chemical composition of the essential oil of Stachys menthifolia Vis.
abstract: Stachys menthifolia Vis. (Lamiaceae) is an endemic species from the Balkan Peninsula spread throughout Albania, Greece, Montenegro, and Croatia. This article presents the first investigation of the essential oil composition of this species from Croatia. Aerial parts of the plant were collected from three different natural habitats in the region of Biokovo Mountain. The studied populations showed similarity in qualitative, but not in quantitative, composition of their essential oils. Hydrodistilled volatile oil obtained from the plant material of S. menthifolia was subjected to gas chromatographic analysis coupled to mass spectrometry. More than 100 compounds were identified in the three samples, representing 86.8-90.8% of the total oil. The terpene profile of S. menthifolia is characterized by a high content of oxygenated sesquiterpenes (48.4-58.9%) and diterpene hydrocarbons (3.5-25.2%), with 8-alpha-acetoxyelemol (6.9-21.3%), abietatriene (3.5-21.1%), and 4'-methoxyacetophenone (4.5-17.0%) as the main constituents.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Science, University of Sarajevo, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
authors.forename: Sanja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ćavar
authors.forename: Milka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maksimović
authors.forename: Danijela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vidic
authors.forename: Marija Edita
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Šolić
mesh_terms: D000840:Anisoles / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D017523:Croatia; D004224:Diterpenes / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D008519:Medicine, Traditional; D015394:Molecular Structure; D009281:Naphthalenes / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D009822:Oils, Volatile / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008517:Phytotherapy; D035261:Plant Components, Aerial / Q000737:chemistry*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012717:Sesquiterpenes / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D031366:Stachys / Q000737:chemistry*; D013729:Terpenes / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000840:Anisoles; D004224:Diterpenes; D009281:Naphthalenes; D009822:Oils, Volatile; D012717:Sesquiterpenes; D013729:Terpenes; C046029:4-acetylanisole