Comparative Analysis of the Essential Oils of Dracocephalum moldavica L. from Greenhouse and In vitro Cultured Conditions

Dracocephalum moldavica L. is an aromatic annual plant belongs to the Lamiaceae family. A study was conducted to analyze the essential oils of this plant from six population cultivated in a greenhouse and four population under invitro culture conditions. The essential oils were isolated using the hydro-distillation method and Clevenger apparatus. Gas Chromatography (GC) and Gas Chromatography/Mass spectrometry (GC-MS) were used for analysis. The identified components constituted approximately 91.35-96.58% of the essential oil composition under greenhouse conditions and 90.73-98.3% under in vitro culture conditions. The highest essential oil percentage (0.27%) was found in the Karaj (2) population under greenhouse conditions, while the maximum essential oil yield under in vitro culture was 0.1% in the Hamedan (2) population. The main components identified were Neral, Geraniol, Geranial, and Geranyl acetate. Hamedan (2) (greenhouse) had the highest Neral (27.05%) content, Karaj (3) (in vitro culture) had the highest Geraniol (34.32%) content, Karaj (2) (in-vitro culture) had the highest Geranial (56.12%) content, and Karaj (1) (greenhouse) had the highest geranyl acetate (24.75%) content. In conclusion, the content of Neral and Geranyl acetate increased under greenhouse conditions, while the maximum values of Geraniol and Geranial percentage were observed in the essential oils of in vitro culture. The results suggested that both the culture condition and the origin of the population influenced the essential oil percentage and chemical constituents of D. moldavica species.