Composition of essential oils of Rosmarinus officinalis L. from Elba Island (Tuscany, Italy)

The genus Rosmarinus L. (Lamiaceae) is represented by spontaneous shrubs growing all over the world. In the Mediterranean area, the genus Rosmarinus L. includes five species: R. officinalis L., R. eriocalyx Jourdan and Fourr, R. laxiflorus (De Noé) Batt., R. lavadulaceous Batt. and R. tomentosus Huber-Morath and Marie [1-3]. Rosmarinus officinalis L. is widely used in the folk medicine, cosmetics, herbal products, and food flavoring [4]. The composition of R. officinalis essential oil has been reported in several studies [5-7]. The major -pinene, 1,8-cineole and camphor, associated with variable content of camphene, limonene and verbenone. In a previous work, the composition of EOs obtained from R. officinalis growing in Tuscany and minor islands of Tuscan Archipelago (Gorgona, Capraia, Giannutri, Giglio, Montecristo and Pianosa) has been described [8]. The present work deals with the composition of eighteen samples of Rosmarinus officinalis L. essential oils from six locations of Elba Island (Tuscany, Italy) characterized by different type of soil and microclimate and collected in three different periods of the year (January, May and October 2010). The analysis was performed by Gas Chromatography (GC) and Gas Chromatography/Electron Impact Mass Spectrometry (GC/EIMS). Eighty-eight components were identified representing 96.8-99.6% of the whole chemical composition. These oils were characterized by a high content of oxygenated monoterpenes (49.2-80.3%) and hydrocarbon monoterpenes (18.7–48.3%). The main constituents were 1,8-cineole (26.4–49.1%), α-pinene (4.5-34.8%) and camphor (1.1–18.8%). The results of this study have been compared with those from all the other islands of Tuscan Archipelago (Gorgona, Capraia, Pianosa, Giglio, Montecristo and Giannutri) previously studied [8]. Apart from Giglio and Giannutri Islands, the HCA analysis showed a clear separation between the Elba samples and those from the other minor Islands