Chamomile, Chamomilla recutita (L.) Rauschert, is the most favoured and most used medicinal plants. A substantial part of drug effects are determined by the essential oil content. Among the essential oil constituents the most active are (-)-a-bisabolol and chamazulene.
This contribution is aimed at the study of the essential oil content and its composition variability in naturally growing population on the East-Slovakian Lowland.
Plant material, camomile anthodia, was collected from natural sites on the East-Slovakian Lowland during four years (1995, 1996, 1997 and 1998). Essential oils from dry flowers were isolated by hydrodistillation.
German camomile, Chamomilla recutita (L.) Rauschert, can be found in the secondary plant communities on the East-Slovak lowland, such as trodden societies on dry and moist soils, weed societies, and dump societies. Plant genepool material was collected from 10 or 11 in situ localities each year (1995,1996,1997 and 1998); 42 samples were investigated together. Percent of essential oil content in dry camomile flowers and its qualitative and quantitative characteristics, which were determinate by a gas-chromatography were presented.
The Slovak large-scale cultivation is realised through the breed varieties and the content of their essential oil is about 1.1%. Camomile flowers, which are collected from the natural localities, has a lower percent of the essential oil, from 0.30 to 0.97.
According to the study of camomile's pharmacodynamic properties, the sesquiterpenes: (-)-a-bisabolol and chamazulene are considered to be the most valuable constituents. Chamomile, which was collected from natural habitats has (-)-a-bisabolol content from 2.4 to 9.6% and chamazulene from 3.8 to 11.0%. The highest content of about 52.9% and less of unimportant compound, such as (-)-a-bisabololoxide A is typical for chamomile population in the East-Slovakian lowland. The content of Farnesene is very variable and dependent upon a quantity of the green flower parts.
These results are showed that there is a bisabololoxide chemotype of camomile (Schilcher, 1987) with the lower content of essential oil on the East-Slovakian Lowland.
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