Cultivation Site Influence of Essential Oils Component in Purple and Green Basil

Sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) is an herbaceous annual aromatic herb belongs to the Lamiaceae family. The compositions of essential oil are the main parameters for assessing quality of basil for different food, pharmaceutical, and chemical industries. On the other hand, secondary metabolites in basil are affected by the interaction of location and genetics. In this study essential oil composition of two basil cultivars (green and purple) in different cultivation site were determined. The experiment took place in Isfahan and Marand cities with different climate, edaphic and elevation factors. Plants were harvested at flowering stage and transported to the laboratory and samples dried at shade condition. Essential oils were obtained by hydro-distillation and analysis of essential oils was carried out by GC and GC-MS technics. There were differences among constituents in the essential oil content from the basil cultivars at two locations. For green basil, the major constituent of the essential oil from aerial parts were Geraniol (36.21%, in Marand region), nerol (27.02%) and methyl-chavicol (18.79%) in Isfahan region. Green basil, grown in the Isfahan region had higher concentrations of essential oils component than in the Marand region. For purple basil, methyl-chavicol (54.54%) and linalool (26.10%) in Marand region and (E)-β- ocimene (3.86%) in Isfahan regain were the highest essential oil components. According to our results, location could affect the efficacy of production for use of basil in drug industries.