Essential Oil Composition of Lavandula dentata, L. stoechas and L. multifida Cultivated in Tunisia

The chemical composition of the essential oils of dried aerial parts of Lavandula dentata L. stoechas and L. multifida were analyzed by GC and GC-MS. A total of 52 compounds were identified representing 89.62 +/- 9.56, 99.94 +/- 9.88 and 98.21 +/- 10.23 in Lavandula dentata L. stoechas and L. multifida oil, respectively. Essential oil yield varied significantly (P < 0.05) among the three studied Lavandula species and there were (1.96 +/- 0.22 %), (1.62 +/- 0.15 %) and (1.04 +/- 0.11 %) on dry weight basis in L. dentata, L. multifida and L. stoechas, respectively. Essential oil extracted from aerial parts of L. dentata was dominated by linalool (47.30 +/- 5.34 %), linalyl acetate (28.65 +/- 3.26 %), bicyclogermacrene (3.40 +/- 0.41 %), camphor (2.32 +/- 0.28 %) and delta-terpineol (1.47 +/- 0.16 %). Linalyl acetate (64.30 +/- 7.55 %), linalool (20.25 +/- 3.21 %) and beta-thujone (8.97 +/- 0.99 %) were the predominant compounds in L. stoechas essential oil. L. multifida oil was characterized by the predominance of linalool (50.05 +/- 6.52 %), camphene (10.06 +/- 1.21 %), linalyl acetate (7.30 +/- 0.65 %), alpha-thujene (3.83 +/- 0.41 %), bornyl acetate (3.03 +/- 0.41 %), beta-caryophellene (2.13 +/- 0.25 %), nerol (2.01 +/- 0.22 %) and terpinolene (2.05 +/- 0.23 %). This finding indicates that Lavender was rich in natural component which could be used as a source of natural antioxidants.