Seasonal Variation in Yield and Composition of Essential Oil fromSatureja cuneifoliaTen. Growing Wild in Lebanon

Seasonal variation in chemical composition of essential oils obtained from fresh aerial parts of S. cuneifolia was determined by GC and GC-MS. The fresh plant materials were collected before and after flowering, and during beginning and maturation fruit stage from two different locations. Thirty five components were identified; carvacrol (20.4-52.1 %), p-cymene (9.1-30.2 %) and γ-terpinene (5.9-23.9 %) were the main components. In general, the qualitative composition of the components appeared to be relatively stable but carvacrol, p-Cymene and γ-terpinene showed variability. We also note that phenolics and monoterpene hydrocarbons were the major components. All the essential oils were found to be rich in carvacrol reaching the highest rate (52.1 %) during full blooming stage, while the highest percentage of thymol ranging (18.7 %) was reached only in the sample of essential oil from S. cuneifolia collected in the region of Ehden.