Chemical comparison of the essential oils of Lippia Origanoides in two agroclimatic zones of the Colombian Caribbean coast

Abstract

The objective of this research is to compare the chemical profiles of the essential oils of Lippia origanoides leaves collected in Santa Marta and Sincelejo at different hours. The leaves were harvested at 6:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m, and 6:00 p.m, the essential oils were extracted by hydrodistillation assisted by microwave radiation and the chemical profiles were determined by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. The results showed Thymol as the major metabolite in all samples, however, Sincelejo presented the highest percentages of Thymol with 68.02% at 6:00 a.m., while in Santa Marta at 6:00 p.m was 63.19%. In all cases, the lowest concentrations of Thymol were found at 12:00 md, because high temperatures can volatilize this compound and in the case of Santa Marta, because it is a coastal area and temperature at noon is higher than in Sincelejo. Therefore, concentrations of 33.12% and 59.06% were found respectively. A similar case occurs with Ocimeno and 3-Tujeno, which showed a decrease of concentration in this period.