Phytochemical Study on the Essential Oils of Tarragon (Аrtemisia dracunculus L.) Growing in Tajikistan and Its Comparison With the Essential Oil of the Species in the Rest of the World

Abstract

The aerial parts of the tarragon ( Artemisia dracunculus) were collected around Kukteppa village, Ziddi, Varzob region of Tajikistan. The essential oil of tarragon was obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Forty-five compounds representing 99.8% of total oil were identified. Sabinene (29.1%), estragole (24.6%), limonene (7.8%), ( Z)-artemidin (4.9%), myrcene (4.8%), and ( E)-β-ocimene (4.0%) were components with a representation higher than 4% of the essential oils of aerial parts of tarragon. Hierarchical cluster analysis of А. dracunculus essential oils on the global phytogeographic origin based on 30 essential oil components and 105 samples (globally) of this species, indicated the existence of its 7 major chemotypes: ocimene, α-terpinene, capillene, methyl eugenol, mixed chemotype, ( Z)-artemidin, and estragol chemotypes. The essential oils of А. dracunculus showed weak antioxidant and antibacterial activities. To our best knowledge, this is the first report concerning the chemical composition, chemotypic variation, antioxidant, and antimicrobial activities of the essential oils obtained from the aerial parts of А. dracunculus, growing wild in the Varzob region of Tajikistan.