Phytochemical Diversity of Fruit Essential Oil among Sumac Populations from West of Iran and Its Correlation with Environmental Factors

Evaluation of phytochemical diversity among wild populations of a plant species is the first step for its conservation and domestication. Rhus coriaria L. is a shrub with valuable fruits in viewpoint of medicinal properties, due to its essential oil, fixed oil, phenolic compounds, vitamins, proteins and carbohydrates. In the present study, fruit essential oils of eight populations of sumac (Paveh, Kasnazan, Somaqlu, Kani Guyz, Kamaleh, Dagaga, Bakhan and Ziviyeh) from Kurdistan and Kermanshah provinces were extracted by clevenger and analyzed by GC-MS and GC-FID, and correlations of essential oil components with environmental factors were investigated. The considerable variations were observed among populations in viewpoint of number, type and amount of essential oil compounds. The dominant components of essential oil in different populations had significant differences. Cembrene A, one of the important constituents of sumac essential oil was present in all populations and the highest (41.2%) and lowest (13.4%) amounts of cembrene A were determined in Paveh and Dagaga populations, respectively. Principal component analysis grouped essential oil compounds into seven components, which accounted for 100% of the total variance between populations. The first two components explained 52.14% of the total variance, and (E,E)-2,4-decadienal, β-pinene, (2,E)-undecanal, camphene, and cis-ocimene (with factor coefficients of 0.926, 0.879, 0.85, 0.834 and -0.875 in PC1, respectively) were the most effective compounds in the separation of populations. Cluster analysis divided the populations into five different groups. Significant correlations were obtained between essential oil compounds and environmental factors, which can be used in the domestication process of sumac.