Geographic variability of winter savory essential oil

Our research aimed to study high variability in Satureja montana L. (winter savory) essential oil composition indicated by the previous studies of this species. Winter savory is an aromatic and medicinal plant used in traditional medicine and flavoring due to its high essential oil content. Phytochemical investigations were done on individual plants from three S. montana subspecies (subsp. montana, subsp. variegata, and subsp. macedonica) collected from fourteen wild -growing populations in the western Balkans. Considering the number of sampels studied, the work reported here is the most extensive analysis of intra- and interpopulation variability of EOs in this species. The individual EOs were extracted using simultaneous distillation and extraction. The EO composition was dominated by monoterpenes (70.3-88.2%), followed by sesquiterpenes (8.1-25.0%). Almost one-half of the individuals had phenols (carvacrol and thymol) as dominant components, while others had aromatic, linear, or circular monoterpenes (p-cymene, linalool, geraniol, cis-sabinene hydrate). This led to the identification of five chemotypes, which showed geography -specific distribution. The dominant chemotypes in coastal populations (temperate climate with hot summers) were phenolic in S. montana subsp. variegata and subsp. montana, while p-cymene, linalool, cis-sabinene hydrate, and geraniol were more common in continental populations (colder climate with warm summers), irrespective of infraspecific taxonomy. This research confirmed strong genetic control of chemical composition. Additionally, these findings can contribute to domesticating specific chemotypes with desired EO profiles since the compounds mentioned above have distinct biological activities.