Page 1 - Thymus_BSE

Biochemical Systematics and Ecology 56 (2014) 246e254

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Biochemical Systematics and Ecology

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/biochemsyseco

Geographical and environment-related variations of essential

oils in isolated populations of Thymus richardii Pers. in the
Mediterranean basin

L. Llorens a, * , J.A. Llorens-Molina b, 1 , S. Agnello c, 2 , H. Boira b, 3
a Laboratori de Bot anica, Departament de Biologia, University of Balearic Island (UIB), Carretera de Valdemossa km. 7,5, 07122 Palma de
Mallorca, Spain
b Departamento de Ecosistemas Agroforestales, IAM-UPV, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain
c
C.R.A. Unit a di ricerca per il recupero e la valorizzazione delle specie floricole mediterranee (Palermo), S.S. 113, km 245.500, 90011
Bagheria, Italy

ar t i c l e i n f o ab st ra c t

Article history: Composition of essential oils of different populations of Thymus richardii grex of six lo-
Received 27 October 2013 calities from Bosnia-Herzegovina (Konjic, Borci), Spain (Majorca, Ibiza, Valencia) and Italy
Accepted 24 May 2014
(Marettimo, Sicily) were determined by GC/FID and GC/MS. The main constituents in most
Available online
of the samples were aromatic monoterpenes corresponding to non-phenolic cyclic com-
pounds (p-cymene, g-terpinene). The highest monoterpene concentrations were found in
Keywords: the Bosnian samples (70%), and the lowest in samples from the Balearic Islands (<30%;
Thymus richardii
Essential oils Ibiza and Majorca). Sesquiterpenes were the major component (average > 50%) in samples
Chemotypes from Majorca with b-bisabolene (>40%) being the principal constituent. Discriminant
Environmental factors analysis (LDA) shows the differentiation of two chemotypes: A (phenol chemotype), with
p-cymene and g-terpinene as characteristic compounds and B, with b-bisabolene and
carvacrol, as major and significative compounds. The occurrence of the chemotypes was
related to summer positive precipitation and to deep of soils.
© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

The plant family Lamiaceae is common in the Mediterranean region, with members exhibiting highly diversified ecologies.
Species in the family constitute an important component of Mediterranean shrub vegetation, especially in dry and arid
environments. Secondary metabolites produced by these plants play important ecological and biological roles. The diversity
of biological activities of the essential oils of the Lamiaceae may be a consequence of their rich chemical diversity, and in part
explains the large number of studies investigating the chemical composition of plants in this family, and its relationship to

* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ34 61736638; fax: þ34 971173184.
E-mail addresses: lleonard.llorens@uib.es (L. Llorens), juallom2@qim.upv.es (J.A. Llorens-Molina), santo.agnello@entecra.it (S. Agnello), hboira@eaf.upv.
es (H. Boira).
1
Tel.: þ34 620248375.
2
Tel.: þ39 091 909090; fax: þ39 091 909089.
3
Tel.: þ34 676832096.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bse.2014.05.007
0305-1978/© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.