Quality of chamomile teas -: Essential oil content and its composition

Chamomile, a medicinal plant, with a history going back to the time of Egyptian pharaohs, is used in phytotherapy today and, unequivocally, will be used in the future. In the world market, the dry plant flowers, Chamomillae flos, are an important medicinal plant trade item. The annual consumption of chamomile flowers is several thousands of tons. GC analyses of the dry chamomile flowers of different origin, obtained from the commercially available teas, has demonstrated considerable variance in medically effective components. In addition, the constituents of chamomile essential oil differ from those of chamomile teas. Quality is important in the use of the flowers for tea production and for the pharmaceutical and cosmetic products, as shown by dissimilar pharmacodynamic effects.