Comparative Study of the Essential Oils from Three Species ofOriganumGrowing Wild in the Eastern Mediterranean Region

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Abstract
The qualitative and quanitative composition of the essential oil of three Origanum species (Labiatae) has been investigated for the first time. All three belong to the section Majorana and grow spontaneously in the eastern Mediterranean basin: O. majorana L. var. tenuifolium Weston (endemic of Cyprus), O. dubium Boiss. also from Cyprus and O. onites L. from the islands of Karpathos and Rhodos (Greece). The essential oil has been obtained by steam distillation of various parts of the plants. Here the flowers were shown to be richest in essential oil. The oils were analyzed by GC and MS. Thirty-nine components were identified of which cis-sabinene hydrate (7.4–33.3%) and terpinen-4-ol (16.6–21.6%) were characteristic for O. majorana var. tenuifolium, while the main compound in O. dubium was carvacrol (81.0%). Carvacrol (69.4–81.6%) was also the major constituent of O. onites.