Fresh aerial parts of A. biebersteinii were collected in May and June 2009 at different developmental stages (vegetative, floral budding, flowering and fruit set)from its natural habitat in the Dizin zone, northwest of Tehran, Iran (Latitude: 36° 4′ 52″N, Longitude: 51° 22′ 46″ E, Altitude: 2325-2425 m).

All oil samples from different plant parts and phenological stages were mostly made up of monoterpenoid compounds (88.6 - 99.6%), especially oxygenated ones (52.4 - 82.4%). The oil of the vegetative stage contained high amounts of limonene, 4a-alpha,7-alpha,7a-alpha-nepetalactone, p-cymene and 1,8-cineole. The major constituents in the flower budding stage oil were found to be limonene, 1,8-cineole and 4aalpha-7beta-7aalpha-nepetalactone. In the oil of the fruit set stage, gamma-terpinene, p-cymene and cis-chrysanthenyl acetate were the predominant constituents. On the other hand, the most important compounds from the stem oil were 4a-alpha,7-alpha,7a-alpha-nepetalactone, 1,8-cineole, 4aalpha-7beta-7aalpha-nepetalactone and camphor. 4aalpha-7alpha-7aalpha-nepetalactone, limonene, 1,8-cineole and cis-p-menth-2-en-1-ol were found in high concentration in the oil of leaves, whereas 4aalpha-7alpha-7aalpha-nepetalactone, 4aalpha-7beta-7aalpha-nepetalactone, limonene and p-cymene were present in large amounts in the oil of flowers.

Populations of A. annua cultivar 'Jeevanraksha' and accession Suraksha were grown in the experimental field plot of the Institute at New Delhi. The seeds were sown in January 2004, seedlings transplanted in late February 2004 and aerial parts (flowers, leaves and stems from the upper 0.5 m of crop canopy) sampled in late October 2004.

Ninety-seven compounds comprising 91.3% of the total oil of 'Jeevanraksha' were identified. Forty-three monoterpenes (56.6%), 32 sesquiterpenes (31.1%), and 2 diterpenes (0.2%) comprised bulk of the oil (87.9%). The oil was devoid of artemisia ketone and contained camphor (13.5%), 1,8-cineole (9.4%), trans-sabinol (7.1%), p-mentha-1(7), 5-dien-2-ol (6.3%), myrcene (4.7%), germacrene D (4.4%), (E)-beta-farnesene (3.9%), beta-caryophyllene (3.7%), dihydroartemisinic lactone (3.0%) and p-cymene (2.0%) as the major constituents. Eighty-six compounds representing 93.3% of the composition were identified in the Suraksha oil. This oil contained artemisia ketone (47%), 1,8-cineole (8.4%), camphor (5.9%) and alpha-pinene (5.2%) as the major components.

Leaves from mature plants of Artemisia nilagirica var. septentrionalis, before flowering, were collected from different altitudes in Himachal Pradesh such as Shimla (2210 m), Mandi (1044 m) and Manali (2050 m) in June 2005.

The major constituents of the oil show variation with changes in altitude. At lower, middle and higher altitudes, the major constituents of the oil were caryophyllene oxide (28.6%), borneol (35.8%) and camphor (46.9%), respectively. The percentages of alpha-humulene and trans-beta-guaiene also increased, but the percentage of sabinene, trans-sabinene hydrate, 4-terpineol, caryophyllene oxide and humulene epoxide-II decreased with an increase in altitude. The characteristic compounds observed in the plants from lower altitudes were 2-hexene-1-ol, beta-thujone, thujanol, myrtenol and linalyl acetate, while the higher altitude plants were characterized by the presence of alpha-pinene, beta-pinene, limonene, linalool, gamma-gurijunene, germacrene-D and farnesol.

The experiments were performed in the experimental field of the Tropical Crops Genetic Resources Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (Danzhou, Hainan, China; localization 19.52° N, 10⁹.50° E; altitude 118 m; annual average precipitation 1815 mm; annual average temperature 23.5 ℃ ;the soil characteristics are : "Organic matter (g/kg) 11.37;pH 4.94;N (g/kg) 0.51;P (mg/kg) 25.33;K (mg/kg) 33.89). The experimental B. balsamifera plants were one-year old, and were propagated by the seeds collected from B. balsamifera planted in the experimental field of the Tropical Crops Genetic Resources Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences. They were planted with a planting spacing of 80 cm × 80 cm. On the 20th day of each month (from September 2014 to December 2014, which is the traditional harvest time), 30 one-year old B. balsamifera plants were randomly collected. Their young leaves (leaves on young shoots), mature leaves (leaves which are mature but without yellow spots), senescent leaves (leaves with yellow spots and those with dark brown leaf tips), dead leaves (leaves that have turned dark brown), young shoots (stems from buds to 10-20 cm part without woody parts), and young stems (green stems and not completely woody) were collected. These samples were divided into three parts (replicates), dried under shade, and ground to a fine powder (20-mesh sieve), packed in zip-lock bags, and stored in the refrigerator (4 ℃ ) for oil extraction.

Time of growth and type of B. balsamifera plant organs influence the production of oil, its composition, and antioxidant activity. The essential oil level in the young leaves was the highest, followed by mature leaves and senescent leaves, and the oil content was higher in October. A total of 44 compounds were identified. In the essential oils of leaves, the main ingredient is l-borneol, and the content was the highest in senescent leaves and in December. Variations in oil yields did not show the same pattern as the percentages of l-borneol in the essential oil. In the essential oils of young shoots and young stems, the main composition was dimethoxydurene. Therefore, the time of harvest and type of plant organs should be distinguished based on the different harvesting purposes. To extract the volatile oil, the aboveground parts except stems in October should be chosen for harvest. To get a high content of l-borneol in volatile oil, it is more appropriate to select the leaves in December. The antioxidant activity was evaluated using DPPH and BCB assays in this study, and the results proved that the essential oils of B. balsamifera showed a certain antioxidant activity, and the beta-carotene bleaching activity is far stronger than the DPPH radical-scavenging capacity. The young leaves and young shoots showed stronger antioxidant activity due to the high content of dimethoxydurene, beta-caryophyllene, and alpha-caryophyllene.

Samples of R. officinalis were collected in April 1998 during the full flowering period (Ro-1a), between June and July 1998 during the fruiting period (Ro-1b) and in December 1998 during the hibernation period (Ro-1c) from Cazorla, Segura y Las Villas Natural Park (province of Jaen, Spain). The plant material consisted of ca. 10 twigs per plant (with blossoming tips or not, depending of the harvesting date) from 5-10 single plants. Ro-1a (Location: Las Chozuelas, Altitude (m): 1150, Harvesting date: April 21, 1998, Phenological stage: Flowering); Ro-1b (Location: Las Chozuelas, Altitude (m): 1150, Harvesting date: June 19, 1998, Phenological stage: Fruiting); Ro-1c (Location: Las Chozuelas, Altitude (m): 1150, Harvesting date: December 30, 1998, Phenological stage: Hibernation).

The highest oil yields (161.8%) were recorded during the fruiting period (summer). In general, minimum amounts of camphor and maximum amounts of alpha-pinene were observed in winter. The concentration of 1,8-cineole was almost constant throughout the year, though other oil constituent levels varied randomly with the plant life cycle

Aerial parts of both varieties(Salvia euphratica Montbret et Aucher ex Benth. var. euphratica and Salvia euphratica Montbret et Aucher ex Benth. var. leiocalycina) were collected in Malatya, Turkey in June 1999.

Ninety-five compounds in var. euphratica and 94 compounds in var. leiocalycina were characterized representing 93% and 95% of the total components detected, respectively, with 1,8-cineole (13.8% and 15.2%) and myrtenyl acetate (15.9% and 13.9%) as main constituents.

Plant materials were collected during the flowering period in July 2002 from the Dumluca Mountain in the vicinity of Divrigi village of Sivas city at 1900 m altitude and Saksagan Gorge in Saimbeyli village of Adana city at 1900 m altitude.

The flower, stem and root oils of T. cadmeum ssp. orientale collected from the Adana location were characterized with alpha-thujone (25%, 5.2%), cis-linalool oxide (6.8%, 12.8%), trans-chrysanthenyl acetate (5.8%, 8.5%) for flower and stem oils, and beta-eudesmol (10.3%, 6.2%, 13.8%); in addition, stem oil contained 1,8-cineole (6.6%) and root oil contained hexadecanoic acid (6.0%), spathulenol (5.8%) and beta-muurolol (5.3%). The flower and stem oils of T. cadmeum ssp. orientale collected from the Sivas location were characterized with camphor (25.9%, 14.8%), borneol (15.4%, 25.8%) and alpha-thujone (7.8%, 5.5%); in addition, stem oil contained 1,8-cineole (7.4%) and root oil contained nonacosane (16.2%), spathulenol (6.8%) and hexadecanoic acid (5.8%).

Aerial parts of T. larvatum were collected in July 2002, during the period of full flowering from two locations in Montenegro: Mt. Komovi (Sample I) and Mt. Prokletije (Sample II), altitude ca. 1900 m.

About 40 compounds were identified, representing ~89% and 96% of the total oil content in the Samples I and II, respectively. trans-Sabinyl acetate was found to be the dominant component (51.2% and 69.7%). Among the rest of compounds beta-pinene (7.7% and 4.3%) and camphor (6.3% and 4.3%) were the most abundant in both samples.