Composition, chemotypes and sub-chemotypes of essential oils from Coriandrum vulgare and Carum carvi fruits cultivated in different countries

Abstract

Coriandrum sativum L. and Carum carvi L. of the Apiaceae family are among the most cultivated plants, as they have been used for a long time as spices and essential oil (EO) bearing plants. The aim from of this work is to examine the composition of EOs from commercial samples of C. sativum originating from 6 countries and C. carvi EOs from 2 countries, to establish the variability of the content of their components and to identify possible chemotypes of this species. The EOs were hydrodistilled from the dried fruits of C. carvi and C. sativum, and their chemical composition was determined using GC/MS. Samples were obtained from retail pharmacies in 6 different countries. In the samples of coriander EOs, 50 compounds were detected. The dominant group of compounds is acyclic monoterpenoids, ranging from 67.3% (Turkey) to 84.2% (Czech Republic). The dominant component is linalool (61.6–77.9%). According to the content of the dominant major and minor components, it has been established for the first time that the studied samples of linalool-chemotypes can be divided into several sub-chemotypes. It has been noted for the first time that phenolic monoterpenoids were found in samples from subtropical and tropical ountries. There is a strong negative correlation between the content of linalool and α-pinene (–0.891); linalool and γ-terpinene (–0.895). In the samples of C. carvi EOs, 28 compounds were detected. Both studied samples of caraway fruits contain the maximum amount of carvone (54.6–66.8%), followed by the content of limonene (19.9–30.1%). The EO of the caraway studied samples consists almost entirely of monocyclic monoterpenoids. The results of our study of coriander fruits essential oil from six countries allowed us to establish its linalool chemotype, which is divided into five subtypes depending on the secondary compounds, that is novelty for research on possible chemotypes of coriander fruit essential oil. The studied samples of coriander fruits EO do not fully comply with the requirements of the ISO 3516:1997 standard; the content of linalool (Turkey) is slightly below the lower limit in accordance with the requirements. The studied samples of caraway EO slightly exceed the limits of the content of the dominant component carvone (Georgia) and contain significantly less limonene (India) in accordance with the requirements of the ISO 8896-2016 standard.