Biological and Chemical Comparison of Natural and Cultivated Samples of Satureja macrantha C.A.Mey.

Abstract

In this study, investigation on the essential oils and ethanol extracts of naturally grown and cultivated Satureja macrantha samples were reported. The essential oil, flavour and terpenoid-steroid-flavonoid contents of S. macrantha samples were determined by GC-MS and their phenolic contents by LC-MS/MS. Besides, the biological activities of the samples were investigated for their antioxidant, anti-Alzheimer, antimicrobial, cytotoxic, antityrosinase, antiurease, antielastase and anticollagenase properties. The phenolic content and antioxidant capacity of the cultivated sample were higher than those of the naturally grown sample. According to the GC-MS results, terpinene-4-ol (30.9%) and p-cymene (56.7%) were determined as the major components in the essential oils of the naturally grown and cultivated S. macrantha, respectively. The flavour analysis results showed that cis-sabinene hydrate (20.7%) and carvacrol (42.2%) were found to be the major components in the naturally grown and cultivated samples, respectively. While the naturally grown sample was rich in abietane diterpenoids (ferruginol (17.5 mg analyte/g extract) and sugiol (4.2 mg analyte/g extract)), these components were not detected in the cultivated sample. The rosmarinic acid content (0.20 and 24.87 mg analyte/g extract, respectively) of the cultivated sample was found to be significantly higher than that of the natural sample. The biological activities of the samples were determined to be changed in parallel with their chemical contents that are due to factors such as climatic conditions, and soil structure.