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.

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.

Whole leaves and inflorescences of two wild strawberry cultivars ('Rugia' and 'Baron von Solemacher') harvested in 2008 during the agrotechnical experiment performed by Department of Vegetable and Medicinal Plants, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, were used as a material for determinations. Samples were collected before noon at sunny and dry days at the beginning of wild strawberry's flowering stage. Material was dried up to 35 ℃ in shadow and air just after the harvest.

Depending on a cultivar, air-dry inflorescences from wild strawberry contain from 0.21% ('Baron von Solemacher' cv.) to 0.30% ('Rugia' cv.), whereas leaves contains from 0.46% ('Baron von Solemacher' cv.) to 0.62% ('Rugia' cv.) of essential oils. GC/MS analysis of essential oils achieved from studied materials revealed presence of 70 (including 59 identified) compounds in leaves of 'Rugia' cv. and 58 (including 50 identified) compounds in leaves of 'Baron von Solemacher' cv. Essential oils from inflorescences of 'Rugia' cv. contained 52 (including 47 identified), while 'Baron von Solemacher' cv. contained 54 (including 46 identified) compounds. The chromatographic analyses by GC-MS revealed that myrthenol, nonal, linalool and phthalide dibuthyl dominated in essential oils obtained from leaves, while myrthenol, citronelol, linalool and geraniol - from those of inflorescences. There were qualitative differences between oil components at both studied materials and differentiation between both cultivars, as well.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study was separated in two experiments performed in our research station Campus Rural of The Federal University of Sergipe (UFS), Sao Cristovao city, Sergipe State, from December 03, 2002 to April 28, 2003. First harvesting: The first harvesting (Experiment 1) was performed 40 days after seedlings transplantation during full bloom on 03/06/2003. Harvesting was performed cutting plants at 20 cm height from the soil. The collected material consisted on separating leaves and inflorescences from the stalk. In the first experiment only used leaves in the analysis. Randomized block design in a 3x4 factorial scheme with three replications was used. Each plot was composed of five plants. Treatments were: three harvesting periods (8:00; 12:00, and 16:00 h) combined with three drying temperatures (40, 50, and 60 ℃) and fresh leaves. Second harvesting: To perform the second harvesting (Experiment 2) we collected the regrowth of plants used in Experiment 1. Plants were harvested fifty three days after the first harvesting (on 04/28/2003) at 8:00 h using the same procedures as the first one; however both leaves and infl orescences were used in the analysis. Randomized block design with three replications was used. Treatments were drying periods of 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 16 days for leaves and infl orescences in ovens with air renewal and circulation (Marconi model MA-037/5) at 40 ℃.

Harvesting performed at 8:00 h and 12:00 h provided higher essential oil yield. After five days drying, the concentration of linalool raised from 45.18% to 86.80%. O. basilicum should be harvested during morning and the biomass dried at 40 ℃ for five days to obtain linalool rich essential oil.

Aerial parts were collected in Van and Erzurum in eastern Turkey. A) Van: Van to Ercis road 35th km on June 8, 2001 at an altitude of 1850 m. B) Erzurum: Campus area of Ataturk University on July 30, 2001 at an altitude of 1850 m.

Dried aerial parts of S. limbata collected from two localities in Turkey. Oils yielded similar compositions: 70-80% of the oil consisted of monoterpenes and 15-20% of sesquiterpenes. The Erzurum sample contained 3.7% of a diterpene identifi ed as 8,13-epoxy-15,16-dinor-labd-12-ene. Alpha-Pinene or 1,8-cineolerich Salvia oils are used as herbal tea in Turkey.

200 g of fresh flowering spikes were collected randomly at full bloom stage (browning of lower floret stage) from the 2006-2007 crops of clary sage cultivar CIM-Chandni cultivated at CIMAP Lucknow and resource center Purara, Uttarakhand. The oil of Kashmir origin was collected from the Chemistry division of IIIM Jammu.

Linalool (23.6%), alpha-terpineol (3.8%), linalyl acetate (51.2%), beta-caryophyllene (3.2%), germacrene D (1.3%) and sclareol (1.3%) were recorded in the oil S. sclarea cultivated in Lucknow UP while the Kashmir oil sample possessed the highest percentage of linalyl acetate (60.8%) and lowest linalool (14.5%) along with alpha-terpineol (1.8%), geranyl acetate (2.2%), beta-caryophyllene (1.9%), germacrene D (2.6%) and sclareol (1.3%) as the other minor constituents. In contrast, the oil of S. sclarea from Purara in Uttarakhand showed highest percentage of linalool (29.8%), alpha-terpineol (5.3%) and sclareol (2.3%) and the lowest linalyl acetate (45.7%) among all the three samples.

Plant material and isolation procedure: Aerial parts of the plant were collected from two regions, from Kazeroon in southern Iran and Shahr-e-kord in western Iran at the time of flowering in June 2002.

The main components of the oil of S. pilifera collected from Kazeroon, in southern Iran, were spathulenol (15.8%), cis-chrysanthenol (15.3%), beta-caryophyllene (8.4%) and cis-chrysanthenyl acetate (6.9%), while for the plant collected from Shahr-e-kord, in western Iran, they were cis-chrysanthenyl acetate (21.8%), linalool (18.9%), terpinen-4-ol (11.9%) and cis-chrysanthenol (9.2%).

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 and August during a five-year period, starting in 2001, in Montenegro on several locations: Planinica (Sample a), Visitor (Sample b) and Sinjajevina (Sample c).

Sixty-four components were identified, representing 83.1%, 96.6% and 89.4% of the total oils content in the Planinica [Sample a], Visitor [Sample b] and Sinjajevina [Sample c], respectively. The major constituent in Samples a and b , was oxygenated monoterpene, trans-sabinyl acetate (38.1% and 55.8% respectively). Monoterpene hydrocarbons, beta-pinene (13.5%) and santolinatriene (30.6%), were found to be the dominant components in Sample c. The toxic trans-sabinyl acetate was present only in traces in this sample. trans-Chrysanthenyl acetate, as one of major components in feverfew essential oil, has not been previously identified in the investigated essential oils.

The aerial parts of T. chamaedrys were collected at the flowering stage in June 2004 near Corti, Corsica, France and near Oristano, Sardinia, Italy

The Corsican and Sardinian oils of T. chamaedrys investigated in this study were qualitatively similar but they differed by the amount of their major components. The major components were beta-caryophyllene (29.0% and 27.4%, respectively) and germacrene D (19.4% and 13.5%, respectively), followed by alpha-humulene (6.8%) and delta-cadinene (5.4%) in the Corsican oil and by caryophyllene oxide (12.3%) and alpha-humulene (6.5%) in the Sardinian oil. These quantitative differences are also noticeable on the amounts of the different class compounds. Especially, the monoterpene hydrocarbons amounted for 10.3% and 4.1% in Sardinian and Corsican oils respectively and the oxygenated sesquiterpenes amounted for 18.9% and only 7.4% in both oils, respectively. Both oils were qualitatively rather similar in comparison with those reported in the literature from various geographic regions. However, among the 87 components identified in this study, 47 minor components (< 0.6%) reported were identified for the first time in T. chamaedrys oil. This study confirms the quantitative variability of the major components according to the plant origin.

The aerial parts of T. flavum were collected in different periods from December to July 2006, from plants growing along the Ionic coast of Sicily (Italy). LF 1-LF 2-LF 3: represent the composition of leaf oils of plant samples collected in December (vegetative stage), February (pre-flowering stage) and April (budding stage) respectively; FL: flower oil; FR: fruit oil.

Some components, in all investigated plant parts, remained more or less constant during all the different phases of the plant cycle life. Worthy of note, considering the leaf oils, was that beta-pinene, limonene and germacrene D increased in the pre-flowering stage, while a series of esters and alpha-copaene, beta-caryophyllene, viridiflorol, Tmuurolol and phytol increased in the budding stage (LF3); the vegetative stage oil is generally characterized by a rich chemical composition and some constituents such as isoamyl hexanoate, alpha-humulene, bicyclogermacrene, beta-bisabolene and alpha-bisabolol reached their highest levels in this oil. In the flower oil, linalool and 1-octen-3-yl acetate were the main components compared to the amounts found in the other oils. Fruit oil composition was relatively oil poor, with beta-bisabolene, caryophyllene oxide, cadin-4-en-1-ol and phytone as the major constituents.

Plant materials were collected from the following localities in north western Turkey. A = Trabzon: Caykara, Soganli dag on July 28, 1994; B = Bayburt: Caykara, Mohakambo yaylasi on July 25, 1994; C = Trabzon: Koprubasi, Vizara yaylasi on July 20, 1994.

One hundred and four compounds were identified representing 97.5-99.5% of the total components detected in thymol/carvacrol (50.14/10.67%), thymol/linalool (23.14/20.24%) and linalool/alpha-terpinyl acetate/geraniol (21.55/16.70/11.17%) rich oils.

Aerial parts of the plant were collected from four localities: A = Kirklareli: Karadere in May 1991; B = Kirklareli: Karahamza Village in May 1990; C = Kirklareli: Evciler Village on 13 June 1993; D = Kirklareli: Korukoy on 25 May 1994

The four oils obtained from plants collected in different localities of the same region gave quite different compositions as follows: A: thymol (10.5%), 1,8-cineole (9.96%), p-cymene (9.48%), carvacrol (5.28%); B: beta-caryophyllene (29.50%), carvacrol(20.59%); C: thymol (34.7%), beta-caryophyllene (12.74%), carvacrol (5.24%); D: beta-caryophyllene (56.48%), germacrene D (11.12%), carvacrol (4.85%). Since the identities of the plant materials were checked repeatedly, any misidentification is ruled out. Except for A and C, all the other materials showed beta-caryophyllene as the major constituent. Carvacrol (20.59%) was present in good amount in the oil of B. In A, however, high percentages of 1,8-cineole (10%) and p-cymene (9.5%) were significant. This oil contained only a trace amount of beta-caryophyllene. Four isomeric caryophyllene alcohols were detected in the oil B. The results clearly indicate that the oil of T. striatus var. interruptus has no consistency and we can safely suggest that there are at least three chemotypes, namely thymol/1,8-cineole/p-cymene-type; thymol/beta-caryophyllene-type; and beta-caryophyllene-type, of this species.