Chemical composition of the essential oil of Monarda fistulosa L., cultivated in the north-east of Belarus

Abstract

For the first time the data have been presented on the chemical composition of the essential oil of Monarda fistulosa L., cultivated in the north-east of Belarus (Vitebsk region). Dried leaves and inflorescences of M. fistulosa L., harvested in the flowering phase, were used to obtain the essential oil. More than 70 components were detected by chromato-mass spectrometry, of which 33 were identified. The main components of the essential oil are thymol (29.18 % in leaves and 38.4 % in inflorescences), carvacrol (22.83 % in leaves and 21.5 % in inflorescences) and p-cymene (17.5 % in leaves and 9.5 % in inflorescences). The main component of essential oils is thymol, which makes it possible to attribute the studied samples of M. fistulosa L. to the thymol chemotype. M. fistulosa L. can be recommended for further study and cultivation as a promising essential oil plant in the north-east of Belarus.