Morphological and phytochemical variability of Satureja hortensis L. accessions: An effective opportunity for industrial production

Summer savory (Satureja hortensis L.) as an endemic species identified in Iran and other countries is widely used in traditional medicine. Several isolated molecules of this species are used to elaborate antifungals and can also be used in the pharmaceutical industry. This investigation was performed to evaluate the levels of variabilities of some agro-morphological characteristics and essential oil constituents of S. hortensis accessions originated from Iran, Bulgaria, Germany, Czech, Georgia, Syria, Hungary, Poland, Italy, Greece, and Uzbekistan. The different properties of accessions such as the highest plant fresh, dry weight, plant height, leaf length, internode length, and main branch number were found in the Bulgaria. The maximum amount of essential oil content was obtained in Uzbekistan accessions (0.75 %). The Bulgaria accession had the highest thymol and gamma-terpinene contents, while the Karaj accession was the best in carvacrol and delta-3-carene contents. The highest correlation coefficient was observed between the plant's internode number and internode length (r = 0.99) and the plant height had a positive correlation with traits influencing plant yield. The accessions were classified into five main categories according to morphological properties and most of the accessions originated from each geographical site placed in the same class. The findings of this research can be used for sketching efficient breeding programs for this species.