Essential oil, total phenolic, flavonoids, anthocyanins, carotenoids and antioxidant activity of cultivated Damask Rose (Rosa damascena) from Iran: With chemotyping approach concerning morphology and composition

In the present study, the percentage, and compositions of essential oil, total phenol, flavonoids, anthocyanins, carotenoids and antioxidant capacity of 24 accessions of cultivated Damask rose have been investigated. These accessions had a 0.010–0.055 (v/w) percentage of essential oil. GC/MS analysis revealed forty-nine constituents that formed more than 90% of detected compounds. Geraniol, citral, methyl linoleate, n-heneicosane, and n-octane were the major components of essential oils. Acc.1 had the highest total phenol (165 mg Gallic acid/g DW) and flavonoid content (81 mg Quercetin/g DW). Total anthocyanin ranged from 0.5 to 3.5 (mg cyanidin-3-glucoside/g DW). Carotenoid content ranged from 0.002 to 0.055 mg/g DW, the highest being observed in Acc.18. Based on cluster analysis and, the accessions were categorized into seven groups. The antioxidant activities of the samples were determined using DPPH free radical scavenging activity and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay. All the accessions (4–12 µg/ml) had lower IC50 than ascorbic acid (18 µg/ml). In FRAP assay, they had high antioxidant activity in a range of 10–25 µmol Fe+2/g DW. Based on the high and valuable source of bioactive compounds of Damask rose the elite accessions can be recommended for boosting cultivation and food applications.