Variability in essential oil composition produced by micropropagated (in vitro), acclimated (ex vitro) and in-field plants of Ocimum basilicum (Lamiaceae)

• Propagation of Ocimum basilicum is an alternative for obtaining the essential oil with different proportions of chemical components.
• Species-rich trichomes are excellent in producing essential oils.
• In in vivo grow, the major constituent of essential oil was α-muurolol.
• The main compound in essential oil from in vitro plantlets was methyl eugenol.
• In essential oil from acclimated plants, the main component was linalool.

An in vitro protocol was developed for propagation of Ocimum basilicum from shoot cultures. Thus shoot apexes of the adult plant were used as explants and cultured and after eight months plants grown in vitro were acclimated to ex vitro conditions. Then essential oils produced in field plants, micropropagated plants in vitro and acclimated plants (ex vitro) of O. basilicum were extracted by hydrodistillation. Crude oils were analyzed by GC/FID and GC/MS to identify the chemical composition (qualitative and quantitative data). The results showed a different composition for each type of oil since the field plant produces a great amount of α-muurolol (30.62%); in micropropagated plants, the main volatile constituent detected was methyl eugenol (27.38%), and in acclimated plants ex vitro, the main constituent was linalool (23.31%). Considering micropropagation as an alternative for the production of essential oil with linalool as a main constituent, fully controlled conditions as seen for acclimated plants (ex vitro) can be useful to induce basil to produce linalool in high concentrations.