Essential Oil Diversity of Turnip-Rooted Parsley Cultivars

Abstract

The quality of turnip-rooted parsley (Petroselinum crispum var. tuberosum) as a seasoning ingredient depends on the content and composition of the essential oil. The content of essential oil is influenced by many factors, the main of which are genetic variations and environmental conditions. The presented work presents for the first time a comparison of such numerous cultivars of root parsley in terms of the essential oil content in both the roots and the leaves. The experiment compared the content and composition of the essential oils of fifteen parsley cultivars in two growing seasons. The essential oil was obtained by the hydrodistillation method, and the composition analysis was performed using the GC/MS technique. The essential oil content in parsley roots ranged from 0.013 to 0.045 mL 100 g−1 FW, while in leaves, it was within the range of 0.041–0.121 mL 100 g−1 FW. The leaf essential oil yield was also higher than the roots, proving that parsley leaves are a valuable spice and should not be treated as a waste product as before. It was observed in the research that the content of essential oils changed significantly due to the weather conditions in the analysed growing seasons; however, some cultivars, such as ‘Kinga’, ‘Eagle’, and ‘Berlińska PNE’, had a stable content of essential oils in the analysed period. The dominant component of the essential oils obtained from the roots of all cultivars was apiol. However, in the case of the essential oils obtained from the leaves, the main ingredients were myristicin, β-pinene, Z-falcarinol, and β-phellandrene, but their content was highly varied depending on the weather conditions in the analysed growing seasons.

Petroselinum Crispum (Mill.) Fuss (Parsley), a Food and Medicinally Important Plant: A Review of Recent Studies Between 2013-2023

“…Studies conducted to determine essential oil content have shown that essential oil yield is between 0.08-9.63%. Differences in essential oil yield and composition may have occurred depending on geographical conditions, collection season, and methods used for extraction [27].…”

Chemical Diversity, Yield, and Quality of Aromatic Plants

“…In spice production, attention is given to high-yielding varieties and those characterized by aroma stability. Gruszecki and Walasek-Janusz [20] evaluated the yield, content, and chemical composition of EOs of 15 turnip-rooted parsley [Petroselinum crispum (Mill.) Nym.…”

“…In the assimilatory organs, the composition of the oils was more varied, indicating a more active and individual adaptation of the plants to changing conditions during the different growing seasons. Root parsley is mainly cultivated for its aromatic roots; the above studies [20] show that its leaves are a full-flavored spice and contain many EOs. Furthermore, the varied response of varieties, depending on weather conditions, regardingthe content of EOs may indicate the possibility of selecting varieties suitable for crop weather conditions.…”

The Essential Oil of Petroselinum crispum (Mill) Fuss Seeds from Peru: Phytotoxic Activity and In Silico Evaluation on the Target Enzyme of the Glyphosate Herbicide

“…Petroselinum crispum (Mill) Fuss is a perennial herb ( Figure 1 ), native to the Mediterranean region and used in the food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries for its aromatic properties; it is commonly known as parsley and belongs to the Apiacea family [ 14 ]. It has been introduced and cultivated in many parts of the world due to its medicinal effects such as: antiseptic, stimulant, emmenagogue, antispasmodic, carminative, and stomachic effects, and its action on the uterine fiber [ 15 , 16 , 17 ]. On the other hand, the EO of P. crispum presents a high content of apiol [ 18 ], myrcene, 1,3,8-p-menthatriene, myristicin, β-phellandrene, and other terpenoids [ 19 ].…”