Comparison of Quantity and Quality of Aromatic Compounds from Rosa damascena Mill. by Different Extraction Methods

Rosa damascena Mill is one of the important Rose species for production of aromatic compounds. The oil and distilled water of Rose are used vastly in medicinal, hygienic-cosmetic and food industries. In Iran, there are vast gardens of Rosa damascena in Kashan, Kerman, Tabriz, Sahand and Fars province. In this research, the effect of different extraction methods on yield and chemical composition of four Rosa damascena samples (two samples from national botanical garden of Iran with source of Kashan and Oskou, one sample from Kashan and one sample from Chaloos road) were examined. The aromatic compounds were obtained by four extraction methods consisted of two distillation methods (hydro-distillation and water & steam distillation), extraction with organic solvents (by use of hexane and petroleum ether, individually). The yields of essential oils (from distillation methods) and concrete and absolute (from solvent extraction) were calculated. The oils and absolutes were analyzed by GC and GC/MS. The result showed (except Oskou sample) there is no significant difference between oil and absolute yield, but for all samples, the yield of concrete was higher than the yield of oil and absolute, significantly. Distillation methods produced higher percentage of citronellol and sometimes geraniol, but the valuable compound, phenyl ethyl alcohol, was not found in the oils or exist in very little amount. In solvent extraction methods, the percentage of phenyl ethyl alcohol was considerably high and citronellol and also geraniol were found in the absolutes, of course in lower amounts. There were also some differences between the minor components.