Chemical composition of essential oil from Rosa Damascena mill., growing in new region of Bulgaria

Introduction. The objectives of this study are to present the chemical composition of essential oils from Rosa damascena Mill., growing in a new region of Bulgaria. Materials and methods. The rose flowers were harvested in 2016 in the vicinity of the town of Vidin (North-West Bulgaria) in the stage of flowering in two periods - 10 May (sample 1) and 26 May (sample 2). The chemical composition of the oil is determined chromatographically. Result and discussion. The moisture of the plants is 82.70% (for sample 1) and 79.04% (for sample 2). The yield of essential oil is 0.08% and 0.03%, respectively. Thirty-nine components were identified in the oil in sample 1 and sample 2. Two groups of compounds were found in hydro-distillated rose oils, - odor carriers and odor fixators. Terpene alcohols are the main components responsible for the characteristic odor of rose oil and represent about 56% of total identified substances. High geraniol content with combination of citronellol, farnesol and nerol results in a strong, sweet, floral fresh rosaceous character of the produced rose oils. The chromatographic profile of the rose oil revealed a significant presence of aliphatic hydrocarbons (31%) which are the main components responsible for the odor stability. The main compounds of essential oils were as follows: beta-citronellol (30.24-31.15%); trans-geraniol (20.62-21.24%), n-heneicosane (8.79-9.05%), n-nonadecane (8.51-8.77%), nonadecene (4.42-4.55%) and phenylethyl alcohol (4.04-4.16%). Conclusion. For the first time in new region of Bulgaria essential oil from Rosa damasena Mill. was obtained.