Essential Oil of the Herb ofStachys rectaL., Lamiaceae from Serbia

Taxonomical and Phytochemical Characterisation of 10 Stachys Taxa Recorded in the Balkan Peninsula Flora: A Review

The genus Stachys is one of the largest genera of the Lamiaceae, and it comprises about 300 species. Some species are highly polymorphic, with a number of infraspecific taxa. The aim of the present review is to summarise the available knowledge on 10 taxa belonging to the Balkan Peninsula flora (S. alpina L., S. germanica L., S. menthifolia Vis., S. obliqua Waldst. Et Kit., S. officinalis (L.) Trevis., S. palustris L., S. recta L. subsp. recta, S. recta L. subsp. subcrenata (Vis.) Briq., S. salviifolia Ten., and S. sylvatica L.) in order to enable insight into the identified biologically active substances and their possible application in intrageneric differentiation.

Chemical composition of the essential oil of Stachys menthifolia Vis

Stachys menthifolia Vis. (Lamiaceae) is an endemic species from the Balkan Peninsula spread throughout Albania, Greece, Montenegro, and Croatia. This article presents the first investigation of the essential oil composition of this species from Croatia. Aerial parts of the plant were collected from three different natural habitats in the region of Biokovo Mountain. The studied populations showed similarity in qualitative, but not in quantitative, composition of their essential oils. Hydrodistilled volatile oil obtained from the plant material of S. menthifolia was subjected to gas chromatographic analysis coupled to mass spectrometry. More than 100 compounds were identified in the three samples, representing 86.8-90.8% of the total oil. The terpene profile of S. menthifolia is characterized by a high content of oxygenated sesquiterpenes (48.4-58.9%) and diterpene hydrocarbons (3.5-25.2%), with 8-alpha-acetoxyelemol (6.9-21.3%), abietatriene (3.5-21.1%), and 4'-methoxyacetophenone (4.5-17.0%) as the main constituents.

Essential oil analysis and antimicrobial activity of eight Stachys species from Greece

The volatile composition of eight Stachys species has been studied. The investigated taxa were St. alopecuros (L.) Bentham., St. scardica (Griseb.) Hayek, St. cretica L. ssp. cretica, St. germanica L. ssp. heldreichii (Boiss.) Hayek, St. recta L., St. spinulosa L., St. euboica Rech. and St. menthifolia Vis., growing wild in Greece. The essential oils were obtained by hydrodistillation in a modified Clevenger-type apparatus, and their analyses were performed by GC and GC-MS. Identification of the substances was made by comparison of mass spectra and retention indices with literature records. Sesquiterpene hydrocarbons were shown to be the main group of constituents of all taxa. Furthermore, the obtained essential oils were tested against the following six bacteria: Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853), Escherichia coli (ATCC 35210), Bacillus subtilis (ATCC 10907), Bacillus cereus (clinical isolates), Micrococcus flavus (ATCC 10240), Staphylococcus epidermidis (ATCC 2228), as well as against the following five fungi: Aspergillus niger (ATCC 6275), Penicillium ochrochloron (ATCC 9112), Epidermophyton floccosum (clinical isolates), Candida albicans (clinical isolates) and Trichophyton mentagrophytes (clinical isolates). The tested essential oils showed better activity against bacterial species than against fungi. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was the most resistant strain, as none of the essential oils was active against this strain. The essential oil of St. scardica has been proven most active against both bacteria and fungi.