Origanum species

The use of enantiomers as additional markers for taxonomic characterization of aromatic plants may be very helpful. The differences in the enantiomeric distribution of trans- and cis- sabinene hydrates in two Origanum species enable the species to be distinguished in spite of their similar essential oil compositions. A further study on the natural variation of the enantiomeric composition within a wild population may be carried out in order to examine the stability in a taxon (including the possible presence of chemotypes). The enantiomeric ratio of essential oil components is a reliable parameter for assessing quality because it may be indicative of adulteration, contamination, aging, shelf life, technological process and the botanical source of a specific chiral compound. ... 

Novak, I., Zambori-Nemeth, E., Horvath, H., Seregely, Z, Kafika, K. (2003) Study of essential oil components in different origanum species by GC and sensory anlysis. Acta Aliment 32 141-150. 

Oregano is a comprehensive term for a seasoning which consists of the leaves and blossoms of various Origanum species, which are native to and cultivated in the Mediterranean. 

Sample collection times also change the volatile profile of plant materials (Kutlular Ozel, 2009). Origanum onites is a perennial species with woody stems. It is encountered in the Southern Greek mainland, the islands and the western and southern coastal areas of Turkey (Vokou et al., 1998). The essential oils of Origanum species have been proven to have... 

Hazzit, M. Baaliouamer, A. Faleiio, M. L. Miguel, M. G. Composition of the essential oils of Thymus and Origanum species from Algeria and their antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2006, 54(17), 6314-6321. 

The occurrence of several chemotypes is reported, for example, for commercially used Origanum species, from Turkey (Baser, 2002). In 0. onites, two chemotypes are described, a car-vacrol type and a linalool type. Additionally, a mixed type with both basic types mixed may occur. In Turkey, two chemotypes of Origanum majorana are known, one contains cA-sabinene hydrate as chemotypical lead compound and is used as marjoram in cooking (marjoramy), while the other one contains carvacrol in high amounts and is used to distil oregano oil in a commercial scale. 

Baser, K.H.C., 2002. The Turkish Origanum species. In Oregano The Genera Origanum and Lippia, S.E. Klntzios (ed.), pp. 109 126. New York Taylor Francis. 

More recently, it has been found that the presence of typical oregano-type cymyl compounds (y-terpinene, p-cymene, carvacrol, etc.) in different Origanum species is associated with the presence of a speci c variant of y-terpinene synthase gene (Lukas et al., 2010). Six different variants of this gene have been detected, which differ in the presence or absence of speci c patterns in intron 3 but not each of them is able to result in the accumulation of the mentioned characteristic compounds of the genus. 

Hussain, A. I., Anwar, R, Rasheed, S., Nigam, P. S., Janneh, 0., and Sarker, S. D. (2011). Composition, antioxidant and chemotherapeutic properties of the essential oils from two Origanum species growing in Pakistan. Braz. J. Pharm. 21(6), 943-952. 

Dambolena, J.S., Zunino, M.P., Lucini, E.I., Olmedo, R., Banchio, E., Bima, P.J., and Zygadlo, J.A. 2010. Total phenolic content, radical scavenging properties and essential oil composition of Origanum species from different populations. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 58, 1115-1120. 

Source Thymus capitatus (L.) Hoffmanns, et Link (syn. Coridothymus capitatus Reichb. f. Satureja capitata L.) and carvacrol-rich Origanum species (Family Labiatae or Lamiaceae). 

Dorman, H.J.D. and Deans, S.J. (2004) Chemical composition, antimicrobial and in vitro antioxidant properties of Monarda citriodora var. citriodora, Myristica fragrans, Origanum vulgare ssp. hirsutum, Pelargonium species and Thymus zygis oils. Journal of Essential Oil Research 16, 145-150. 

Origanum Oil, Spanish Type, occurs as a yellow-red to a dark, brown-red liquid with a pungent, spicy odor suggestive of thyme oil. It is the volatile oil obtained by steam distillation from the flowering herb Thymus capitatus Hoffm. et Link and various species of Origanum (Fam. Labiatae). It is soluble... 

Bohlmann et al. have isolated many new thymol derivatives from a number of different species." Doubts over the presence of a y-terpinene monoepoxide reported earlier (Vol. 5, p. 22) in Origanum heracleoticum, and of its synthesis from y-terpinene by peracid epoxidation, have been confirmed. ... 

Headsp>ace (HS) methods are used for the separation of volatile compounds from complex solid matrices such as plant materials. Reproducible and rapid identification of volatile compwimds in aromatic plants can be achieved when static HS sampling is coupled to GC-MS (Esteban et al., 1996). More recently, the capabilities of automated HS sampling in the analysis of volatile compounds from Origanum vulgare was developed (Garcia Sanz, 2001). The application of automatic HS-GC to the determination of the safrole content in different Asarum species from China and Europe was also described (Stuppner Ganzera, 1998). 

Since many essential oil-bearing species are in the transitional phase from wild plants to systematic cultivation, appropriate breeding progress can be achieved by simple selection. Wild collections or accessions of germplasm collections are the basis, and good results were obtained, for example, with Origanum sp. (Putievsky et al., 1997) in limited time and at low expenses. 

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