Physico-Chemical Characteristics of Rosmarinus officinalis L. Essential Oils Grown in Lam Dong Province, Vietnam

Abstract

Composition of rosemary essential oil largely depends on the geographical position of the cultivated plant and conditions of the extraction process. In this study, fresh rosemary leaves were used for extraction of essential oil by hydrodistillation and evaluation of chemical compositions and physico-chemical characteristics of the obtained oil were performed. The yield of essential oil was 1.0 %. The physico-chemical parameters showed specific gravity (0.8978 g/cm3), acid index (1.122 mg KOH/g), ester index (15.708 mg KOH/g) and refractive index (1.464). Twenty three components were identified in Rosmarinus officinalis L. oil. The major components were α-pinene (35.54 %), eucalyptol (20.902 %), camphene (4.384 %), bicyclo[3.1.1]hept-3-en-2-one (7.794 %), caryophyllene (1.225 %), endo-borneol (4.147 %) and bornyl acetate (4.065 %). Present study unveiled differences in the chemical composition of Vietnamese rosemary oil comparing with similar studies carried out in other countries.