Evaluation of quantitative and qualitative changes in Echinophora platyloba DC. essential oil under the influence of different drying methods

To evaluate the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of Echinophora platyloba DC. under the influence of different drying methods, an experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with 12 treatments and three replications in 2019. The experimental treatments included fresh plant, drying the plant in the shade and sun, drying the plant with an oven at three temperatures of 45, 55, and 65 °C, drying the plant with a vacuum oven at three temperatures of 45, 55, and 65 °C, and drying the plant with a microwave at three powers of 200, 400, and 600 W. The aerial parts of the plant was collected from the heights of Tuyserkan city in Hamedan province in June and was affected by the different drying methods. The essential oil was extracted by Clevenger apparatus and then its components were identified by GC-MS. The findings of this study showed that the different methods of plant drying had a significant effect on the percentage and all the components of essential oil. The microwave drying method at 400 W, despite not being suitable for preserving the secondary metabolites of the plant, caused the highest essential oil content. The shade-drying method, despite the long drying time, was the most suitable method for preserving the essential oil composition in E. platyloba. The essential oil percentage in this study ranged from 0.06% to 0.39% and the main essential oil constituents included trans-β-ocimene (34.16-57.52%), α-phellandrene (8.87-16.52%), cis-ocimene (1.69-4.57%), b-phellandrene (2.08-9.24%), p < /em>-cymene (1.53-5.05%), β-pinene (0.73-1.94%), a-pinene (1.83-5.15%), veloutone (0.39-3.78%), trans-carveol (0.38-1.92%), linalool (0.72-3.57%), and germacrene-D (1.67-4.91%).