VARIABILITY OF COTINUS COGGYGRIA SCOP. (ANACARDIACEAE) ESSENTIAL OIL FROM THE TERRITORY OF SERBIA

The aim of this study is to determine the qualitative and quantitative variability of volatile constituents of leaf essential oils of Cotinus coggygria Scop., wild-growing at three different types of the substrate; calcareous (3), serpentinite (2) and sandy (1). The essential oil samples were hydrodistilled from fresh leaves of C. coggygria. The obtained results showed that the leaf essential oils from all populations (i.e. regardless of the substrate on which they spontaneously grew) are abundant in monoterpene hydrocarbons (95.7%). Populations from calcareous and serpentinite habitats synthesize almost twice more oxygenated monoterpenes in their oils compared to that from the sandy substrate, while populations from serpentine and sandy substrates produce almost twice more sesquiterpene hydrocarbons than those from calcareous substrates. Therefore, it can be concluded that edaphic characteristics of natural stands of C. coggygria affect the composition of their leaf oils, which may have significant applications in biotechnology.Publishe