Unveiling chemical and morphological variation in Pimpinella deverroides Boiss.: Insights into Iranian populations and essential oil chemotypes

Pimpinella deverroides Boiss. is an important aromatic plant belonging to the Apiaceae family. This study aimed to evaluate the morphological, phytochemical, and essential oils (EOs) variations among nine Iranian Pimpinella deverroides populations (PDPs). Significant variation was observed in morphological traits, as well as in the total contents of phenols, anthocyanins, carotenoids, and chlorophyll. Among the studied populations, PDP4 exhibited superior performance in terms of plant height (108 ± 1.15 cm), number of umbellate (212.3 ± 4.05), plant fresh weight (1048 ± 5.77 g), and plant dry weight (592 ± 4.61 g). The EOs and phenolic acids extracted from air-dried aerial parts were analyzed using chromatographic techniques including GC, GC/MS and HPLC. The highest contents of rutin (2.57 ± 0.035 mg/g DW) and chlorogenic acid (12.43 ± 0.057 mg/g DW) were found in PDP3 and PDP5, respectively. In total, thirty-one compounds representing 90.34–96.73 % of the total EOs composition were identified, with twenty-two compounds shared across all populations. Spathulenol (2.07–17.31 %), γ-eudesmol (1.63–11.91 %), oleic acid (5.02–10.73 %), and δ-cadinene (1.00–7.73 %) were the major compounds identified in the EOs. Oxygenated sesquiterpenes (28.71–47.36 %) and hydrocarbon sesquiterpenes (21.78–35.45 %) were the main groups of compounds in the studied EOs. Three main chemotypes were found to be Chemotype I (spiro[4.4] nona-1,6-diene, valernanone), Chemotype II (oleic acid/spathulenol) and Chemotype III (δ-cadinene, δ-elemene). These findings provide valuable insights for the conservation, utilization, and breeding of superior PDPs for further exploitation and the production of attributed herbal products.