Published in

MDPI, Plants, 11(9), p. 1570, 2020

DOI: 10.3390/plants9111570

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

Prostanthera (Lamiaceae) as a ‘Cradle of Incense’: Chemophenetics of Rare Essential Oils from Both New and Forgotten Australian ‘Mint Bush’ Species

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

Full text: Download

Green circle
Preprint: archiving allowed
Green circle
Postprint: archiving allowed
Green circle
Published version: archiving allowed
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

The highly aromatic Australian mint bushes from the genus Prostanthera Labill. produce a high yield of essential oil on hydrodistillation. Together with its rich history, horticultural potential, iconic flowers, and aromatic leaves, it achieves high ornamental and culinary value. Species in the genus express highly diverse and chemically unique essential oils that demonstrate intra- and inter-specific patterns that have inspired taxonomic reinterpretation for over a hundred years. Previous studies have conveyed that phenoplastic expression of volatiles creates chemotypes within taxa, adding complexity to chemophenetic exploration. The current study chemically characterised essential oils from 64 highly aromatic specimens, representative of 25 taxa, giving yields as high as >2% g/g. The chemical profiles of essential oils are diverse, but generally include 1,8-cineole and signatory compounds such as sesquiterpene oxides, caryophyllene oxide, kessane and cis-dihydroagarofuran; sesquiterpene alcohols, globulol, epiglobulol, maaliol, prostantherol, spathulenol and ledol; and monoterpene derivatives of common scaffolds, borneol, bornyl acetate, bornanone, linalool and linalyl acetate. As in previous studies, analysis of chemical data confirms that the chemistry strongly agrees with taxonomic classifications. Importantly, as in classical taxonomy, the current chemical study complemented morphological analysis but conveys chemovariation, obscuring the taxonomic agreement. Nevertheless, variation within taxa may be due to environmental factors, meaning that cultivation of species in gardens will create different chemical profiles as compared to those published here.