The essential oil chemical composition of aerial parts of two accessions of Ajuga reptans L., growing wild in North Macedonia

Ajuga reptans L. (Lamiaceae) is a perennial plant, native to Europe, North Iran, and North-West Africa, and introduced in New Zealand, North America, and Venezuela. This study reports the first chemical characterisation of essential oils from two A. reptans accessions (Ar1 and Ar2) growing wild in North Macedonia. Ar1 contained thirty-six compounds (99.8%) and dominated by oxygenated monoterpenes (46.7%), mainly carvacrol (37.9%), and linalool (6.8%). Other abundant metabolites were hexadecanoic acid (14.2%), 1-octen-3-ol (9.8%) and 3-octanol (7.8%). The last two compounds, 1-octen-3-ol (20.7%), and 3-octanol (15.5%), were the main constituents of Ar2. In this oil, linalool (9.5%), and hexadecanoic acid (9.5%) were also well represented. These results expand knowledge of A. reptans chemical diversity showing that Ar1, rich in carvacrol, could be considered a new chemotype. Furthermore, a review of the essential oil compositions of all Ajuga taxa, studied so far, has been carried out.