Investigation of chemical diversity of essential oil of natural populations of Zataria multiflora Boiss. in Hormozgan province

Zataria multiflora Boiss. belongs to Lamiaceae family, which grows wildly in Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. In the present study, the aerial parts of this plant were collected at full flowering stage from six habitats in Hormozgan province including Roudkhane, Lavar-shaikh, Faryab, Tang-e-Zagh, Bashagard and Bandar-e-Khamir. After confirmation of scientific names of the species, the plant materials were dried at shade and at room temperature and the essential oils were obtained by hydro-distillation. The essential oils were analyzed by GC and GC/MS techniques. Results showed that maximum and minimum essential oil contents (w/w%) obtained from Roudkhaneh (6.5%) and Bandar-e-khamir (3.9%) ecotypes, respectively. According to essential oil compound analysis, twenty-three components, representing 93.5 – 99.3% of the total components, were identified. Thymol, linalool, carvacrol and p-cymene were the major compounds in the studied ecotypes. Oxygenated monoterpens were the main group of constituents in all samples except Faryab (45.6-75.3%). Cluster analysis of chemical compounds divided the studied ecotypes into three groups. The first group, which was characterized by a high amount of carvacrol, included the ecotypes of Bandar-e-khamir and Bashagard; the second group, which contained a high amount of thymol, included three ecotypes of Tang-e-zagh, Faryab and Roudkhane, and the ecotype of Lavar-shaikh, which formed the third group, had the highest amount of linalool. The results showed that Z. multiflora ecotypes in the habitats of Hormozgan province have a high percentage of essential oil and phytochemical diversity and can be used in breeding programs.