Effect of different growth stages of Ziziphora clinopodioides Lam. on its chemical composition

The aim of this study is to monitor the changes in the chemical composition of Ziziphora clinopodioides Lam. throughout nine different growth stages. Materials and Methods: Volatile components such as essential oils were analyzed using the gas chromatography (GC) and GC-mass spectrometry, and the contents of non-volatile components were determined by a visible spectrophotometer. Results: Hydro-distilled essential oil content ranged from a minimum of 1.1% (in the post-flowering stage) to a maximum of 1.8% (in the flowering stage). The essential oils included pulegone, which was the most abundant component (77.48-87.3%), p-menthanone (2.79-12.39%), trans-isopulegone (1.04-2.06%), d-limonene (0.51-3.03%) and eucarvone (1.5-4.48%). The contents of non-volatile components, such as that of total phenolics (TPC), total flavonoids (TFC), total triterpenoids content (TTC) and total free amino acids content (TFAAC) were measured using visible spectrophotometry. In the growing stage, TPC, TFC, TTC and TFAAC were 9.91-12.80 mg/g, 29.84-50.63 mg/g, 0.57-1.41 mg/g and 13.33-28.56 mg/g, respectively. Conclusion: These data can be used as a basis to determine the optimal harvest time of Z. clinopodioide Lam.