The effect of habitat altitude on the essential oil content and its active substances of German Chamomile in South-west Iran

Application of medicinal plants ecotypes from natural habitats in agronomic and genetic research requires field and laboratory investigations to select the best chemotypes. The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of habitat altitude on the amount of essential oil and active ingredient of German chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.) in Bushehr province. The chamomile population of natural habitats in three altitude ranges, zero -100, 100-350 and 350-750 meters above sea level with four replications (regions) investigated in a randomized complete blocks design. In all 12 studied habitats, in addition to harvesting plant samples in the full flowering stage, soil samples were also examined. The yield of essential oil of dried flowers was determined according to the herbal pharmacopoeia of Iran by water distillation method. The amount of Chamazulen in the alcoholic essential oil was measured through spectrophotometry, and the amount of Apigenine 7-glucoside was measured according to American Pharmacopoeia (USP-20) through HPLC. The results showed that the difference in altitude of the habitat did not make a significant difference in amount of essential oil and effective substance of chamomile. Despite this, the highest amount of essential oil (0.742%) was found in flowers grown at higher altitudes, and the ecotypes grown in lower areas had more secondary metabolites (4.25% Chamazulene and 0.50% Apigenin 7-glucoside). Therefore, it can be stated that the maximum production of essential oil depends on the soil fertility, and to obtain more effective substances, it is recommended to collect chamomile seeds from the lower habitats.