Influence of Morphological Variability and Habitat on the Chemical Composition of Essential Oils of an Algerian Endemic Origanum Species (Origanum floribundum Munby)

The genus Origanum L. (Lamiaceae) enjoys a socioeconomic interest and constitutes one of the most popular spices. In the literature, the study of this taxon is limited mainly to the chemical composition, antimicrobial, antifungal, and antioxidant activities of the essential oils. In Algeria, few works have been done in this area, including the endemic and rare species: Origanum floribundum Munby. In this study, our contribution highlights the influence of the ecological parameters and of the variation of morphological traits on the chemical composition and the antioxidant activity of the essential oils of six populations. The major oils constituents are carvacrol, -terpinene, and p-cymene with carvacrol predominance (31.8 - 60.8%) in over five populations (MS1 - MS4 and MS6). However, the population of Ain Terraeur (MS5) of which individuals present a foliar polymorphism, distinguishes itself by p-cymene predominance (42.6%). This would denote a new chemotype and/or variety which seem well differentiated on the dendrogram of the Ascending Hierarchical Classification (A.H.C) and its foliar morphology. The antioxidant activity of the six samples evaluated by the scavenging activity of free radicals DPPH center dot and ABTS(center dot+) showed a potent efficiency for the sample with foliar polymorphism population (IC50 = 51.6 +/- 0.31 and 12.71 +/- 0.37 g/ml, respectively).