Basil (Ocimum basilicum L., fam. Lamiaceae) is an important medicinal and aromatic plant with very wide range of uses. This paper presents qualitative and quantitative analyses of essential oils obtained from five types of Italian basil cultivars: Napolitan, Red basil, Fino Verde, Limonez, and Genoveze culltivated in Albania and collected during the summer 2012. The hydrodistilled BEO (Basil essential oil) content ranged from 0.11% to 3.40%. Within the total of 65 identified compounds with GC/FID/MS, nine were considered as predominant (1,8-cineole, linalool, cis-thujone, methyl chavicol, eugenol, trans-(E)-caryophyllene, trans-(α)-bergamotene, germacrene D, and epi-α-cadinol) representing 49.20 to 85.43% of the components in the analysed essential oils. In all cultivars, linalool was detected as the most abundant component (36.20-46.59%). BEO’s from all five cultivars differ in their chemical composition but generally conform to EO’s from Sweet Basil grown in the Medditeranean region. The Napolitan cultivar showed the largest similarity to Sweet Basil, not only for the morphology, also due to the essential oil composition that comprises Basil’s most dominant chemical components (linalool, methyl chavicol and eucalyptol) in particular percents.

The aim of this study was to investigate the yield and chemical composition of the essential oil (EO) isolated from over-ground parts of different populations of Hypericum perforatum L. (Hypericaceae) (HP) from southern Albania. The EO yield of 11 specimens of indigenous populations of HP ranged from 2.50 ml/kg to 11.00 ml/kg. GC/FID/MS analyses of the EOs revealed a total of 126 identified compounds representing 77.35-88.29% of the oils. Based on the prevalence of principal components, two types of EO were distinguished: pinene-type, which included seven populations with EO rich in α-pinene, and caryophyllene-type, which included four populations with EO rich in trans-(E)-caryophyllene and caryophyllene oxide. The information obtained can help to assess the potential of the studied Albanian populations for further sustainable wild exploitation to take it into a consideration as a resource of valuable genetic material or for further cultivation and breeding.Keywords: Saint John's wort; GC/FID/MS; wild populations; types of oil СОСТАВ НА ЕТЕРИЧНО МАСЛО ОД ДИВОРАСТЕЧКИ ПОПУЛАЦИИ НА HYPERICUM PERFORATUM L. ОД ЈУЖНА АЛБАНИЈАЦелта на оваа студија беше да се испита приносот и хемискиот состав на етеричните масла (ЕО) изолирани од надземниот дел на различни популации на растението Hypericum perforatum L. (Hypericaceae) (HP) од јужна Албанија. Содржината на маслото од 11 диворастечки популации на HP се движи од 2,50 ml/kg до 11,00 ml/kg. Со GC/FID/MS беше извршена анализа на соодветните етерични масла, беа идентификувани вкупно 126 компоненти, што претставува 77,35% до 88,29% од вкупната содржина на маслата. Врз основа на застапеноста на главните компоненти, се разликуваат два типа масла: пиненски тип, во кој спаѓаат седум популации чијашто главна индивидуална компонента е α-пинен, и кариофиленски тип, во кој спаѓаат четири популации богати со trans-(E)-кариофилен и кариофилен оксид. Добиените резултати можат да придонесат за процена на потенцијалот на албанските диворастечки популации за понатамошна нивна експлоатација, но и нивно користење како вреден извор на генетски материјал или за нивно култивирање и размножување.Клучни зборови: кантарион; GC/FID/MS; диворастечки популации; типови на етерично масло N. Bardhi, Gj. Stefkov, M. Karapandzova, I. Cvetkovikj, S. Kulevanova Maced.

Basil is an important medicinal and aromatic plant. This paper presents quantitative and qualitative analyses of the essential oils obtained from an autochthon cultivar of Ocimum basilicum L. and two other Italian cultivars, O. basilicum L. cv. purple and O. basilicum L green basil with wide leaves .In the volatile oil of O. basilicum L. cv. with green wide leaves, twelve components were characterized, representing 90% of the total oil, of which linalool (45.3 %) and eugenol (42.06 %) were the major components. In the volatile oil of O. basilicum L. cv. purple, nine components were characterized representing 90% of the total oil, of which farnesene (14.94%), elemol (11.29%) and carvacrol (9%) were the major components. In the O. basilicum L. cv. (autochthon) cultivar with green narrow leaves, twelve components were characterized representing 90% of the total oil, with. Linalool (48 %) and eugenol (36.09 %) as the major components. Linalool (Raguso et. al., 1999) is the dominant constituent in the two cultivars; There was no big difference between the two green cultivars with different leaf morphology in their oil content. These results suggest that further research to improve the quality of the essential oil content is necessary.

Due to the presence of arbutin and hydroquinone in the bearberry plant (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng., Ericaceae), it is widely used as a urinary tract antiseptic and diuretic. The herbal substance consists of whole or cut dried leaves, and it should not contain less than 7.00% of anhydrous arbutin (Ph.Eur.10). The supply of this herbal substance in Balkan countries mainly comes from a wild plant harvested in the mountains. It is a common practice to collect the leaves during the flowering season of the plant (June-July). There is an abundance of wild growing natural populations of bearberry on Korab Mountain that represents a unique natural resource of this herbal substance for both countries, Albania and North Macedonia. The aim of the present study was to determine the arbutin content and to assess its variability in the bearberry leaves of seven wild populations from Korab Mountain. The leaves were collected monthly (May-October) during a period of 3 years (2014-2016). The HPLC assay (Ph.Eur.10) revealed that all populations have arbutin content over 7.00% (7.03-9.42%) and that the highest content of arbutin can be attained in September/October, during the phase after the fructification. Statistical analysis showed that there is significant difference between the content of arbutin in the different populations. The content was related to the altitude of the collection site and the collection month and year.