Essential oil composition and antioxidant activities of eight cultivars of Lavender and Lavandin from western Anatolia

The aim of this study was to examine the essential oil compositions and antioxidant activities of six L. angustifolia cultivars and two L. x intermedia in Turkey. The chemical composition of essential oils obtained by steam-distillation from fresh flowers of Lavandula samples were analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Antioxidant activities of lavender and lavandin cultures were evaluated using β-Carotene Bleaching, DPPH and ABTS+ assays. Sixty-six components were identified for all cultivars. The results indicate that there is a significant difference between L. angustifolia and L. x intermedia cultivars in terms of major components, linalool, linalyl acetate. Linalyl acetate (%46.887-%29.098) and linalool (%36.801-%28.102) were determined in six the cultivar of L. angustifolia and Super A cultivar of L. x intermedia. Linalool (%28.486) and eucalyptol (%15.650) were found as abundant in L. x intermedia Grey Hedge. Evaluation of antioxidant activity of the studied samples emphasizes that highest inhibition was observed in L. angustifolia Yubileina cultivar (23.67 ± 0.14 μg mL−1). However, in the DPPH assay, L. x intermedia Super A cultivars showed the highest inhibition activity (IC50) 89.81 ± 0.17 μg mL−1. In the ABTS+ assay, L. angustifolia Sevtopolis cultivar displayed highest radical scavenging activity with inhibition values of 61.23 ± 0.11 μg mL−1. Essential oil composition of eight lavender and lavandin varieties, used in the industry, was analyzed. And there is a significant difference in terms of camphor composition. The obtained data have been inquired by principal components analysis (PCA), allowing differentiation of eight lavender and lavandin cultures by their variety origins. High levels of linalyl acetate and linalool, low level of camphor (<0.5%) and high antioxidant activity shown that, these cultivars may be considered as a natural raw material source for pharmaceuticals and cosmetic products.