Plantes Médicinales & Aromatiques
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Analysis of the Hydrosol Aroma of Indian Oregano

Ram S. Verma, Rajendra C. Padalia and Amit Chauhan

Background: Hydrosols or aqueous distillates are herbal medicinal water obtained as a side product during the process of hydro or steam distillation of aromatic plant materials for getting essential oils. Generally, hydrosols are fragrant due to presence of a fraction of hydrophilic components of essential oils. Typically, in commercial production, the essential oils are decanted after completion of distillation process, whereas the hydrosols are discarded as waste or in few cases cohobated back to the distillation still. Methods: In present study, Indian oregano (Origanum vulgare L.) populations (two chemotypes, viz. thymol, and carvacrol) were hydrodistilled and the compositions of resulted main essential oil (primary oil) and essential oil fraction dissolved in hydrosol (secondary oil) have compared using gas chromatography (GC/FID) and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS) techniques. Results: The primary oils of both the investigated populations were dominated by hydrocarbons (monoterpene, sesquiterpene, benzene derivatives; 53.4-57.6%), followed by their oxygenated derivatives (38.1-44.9%). However,secondary oils were mainly dominated by oxygenated compounds (92.0-96.2%). Conclusion: Present study concluded that the hydrosols of O. vulgare populations, a byproduct of essential oil industry, can be used as a potential source of phenolic compounds, viz. thymol and carvacrol.