Essential oils in seeds of Daucus spp.: Insights into the development of potential new cultivars

The chemical profiling of essential oil compounds in seeds of three wild carrots (Daucus carota L. subsp. carota, Daucus guttatus and Daucus bicolor) and two carrot cultivars (red and yellow D. carota L. subsp. sativus) was conducted using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Data analysis has shown quantitative differences between wild and cultivated D. carota. The current study showed a strong grouping of the wild D. carota subsp. carota and the two cultivars D. carota subsp. sativus; separate from each of the two wild species, D. bicolor and D. guttatus. Our study has also shown the unique high carotol content in both wild and cultivated D. carota compared to the other studied wild species. The two wild species, D. guttatus and D. bicolor have stood out as potential sources for enriching the cultivated carrot with the monoterpene geraniol and the phynelpropanoid compounds eugenol and methyl eugenol, respectively, through means of traditional and biotechnological breeding programs.