Compositional variation in the leaf, flower and stem essential oils of Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis L.) from Western-Himalaya

Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis L.), family Lamiaceae is an important perennial culinary and medicinal plant cultivated in temperate regions of Asia, Europe and America. The hydrodistilled volatile oils derived from leaf, flower and stem of H. officinalis, collected from Chamoli, Uttarakhand, India (Western-Himalaya) were investigated by gas chromatography (GC–FID) and GC–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Essential oil yield varied from 0.22% to 4.4% in the different parts of the plant. Fifty-seven constituents, representing 99.8% of the leaf oil composition; 44 constituents, representing 99.4% of the flower oil composition and 57 constituents, comprising 88.4% of the stem oil composition were identified. Major constituents of the oils were cis-pinocamphone (49.7–57.7%), pinocarvone (5.5–24.9%), β-pinene (5.7–9.3%), 1,8-cineole (2.9–8.0%), β-phellandrene (1.8–3.2%), myrtenyl methyl ether (2.7–3.0%), sabinene (0.8–1.9%), isopimara-9(11),15-diene (<0.05–1.9%), myrtenol (1.4–1.7%), myrcene (0.5–1.3%), and trans-pinocamphone (<0.05–1.3%). The comparative results clearly indicated that the leaf and stem oil compositions were quite similar in terms of cis-pinocamphone and pinocarvone content. However, the flower oil composition could be differentiated from the leaf and stem oils by the presence of a higher amount of pinocarvone.