Abstract:
Thymus fedtschenkoi
Ronniger (Lamiaceae) is a permanent, that
grows in some mountain rangelands of Iran,
including Mazandaran province. The aerial
parts of Thymus fedtschenkoi were collected
during flowering stage in June 2012, from
mountain rangelands of Mazandaran
province, in north of Iran. Samples were
collected from five altitudes (1300 m,
1600 m, 2000 m, 2400 m and 3000 m) in
mountain region of Mazandaran province.
The goal of current research was to
assessment the effect of altitude on the
chemical composition and function of
essential oil in Thymus fedtschenkoi. The
essential oil were obtained by
hydrodistillation and analyzed by gas
chromatography (GC) and gas spectrometry
(GC-MS). Based on the results, the essential
oil content is between 0.92-1.31%, at
different altitudes. The highest content of
essential oil (1.31%%) was extracted in the
highest altitude (3000 m), while it was
opposite (0.92%) in the lowest altitude
(1300 m). The main essential oil compounds
of Thymus fedtschenkoi samples were
thymol (8.62%-36.86%), carvacrol
(6.787%-68.39%), γ-terpinene (1.473T-
6.461%), p-cymen (5.764%-16.204%) and
linalool (0.465%-6.457 6.8%). According to
the results, altitude has a positive effect on
the percentage of essential oils and essential
oil increases with increasing altitude. The
altitude has a negative effect on the
percentage of thymol and the content of
thymol decreased with increasing altitude.
The altitude has a positive effect on the
percentage of carvacrol and the content of
carvacrol increased with increasing altitude.
