Oliveria decumbens Vent. (Apiaceae) is an annual herb resistant to harsh environmental conditions, which has got numerous pharmacological, food and feed, and cosmetic applications. In the present study, the variation in the essential oil (EO) content and composition of twelve O. decumbens populations growing wild in several habitats of Iran was studied. The EO contents varied from 2.71% (Darab) to 8.52% (Behbahan) on a dry matter basis, where the latter population revealed to be the highest source of essential oil reported so far in this species. Gas chromatography (GC-FID) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis revealed that carvacrol (18.8-51.8%), thymol (20.3-38.7%), γ-terpinene (0.9-28.8%), p-cymene (1.6-21.3%) and myristicin (0.8-9.9%) were the major volatile compounds in all the investigated populations. The EO content had a strong and significant positive correlation with temperature (r = 0.62) and sand content (r = 0.73), but a strong and significant negative correlation with altitude (r = -0.61). On the other hand, the rising altitude led to an increase in thymol content. Cluster and principal component analyses placed the samples from different regions into two main groups based on the main EO components, including thymol/carvacrol type and γ-terpinene/thymol/carvacrol/p-cymene type. This study provides valuable information for identifying chemotypes in O. decumbens as well as insight into planning a domestication and cultivation program.
Keywords: Oliveria decumbens; carvacrol; environmental factors; essential oil (EO); thymol.