Essential oil and its systematic significance in species of Micromeria Bentham from Serbia & Montenegro

Abstract

The composition and quantity of the essential oil of Micromeria allowed us to clearly distinguish between sections Pseudomelissa and Eumicromeria. According to our results the species of section Pseudomelissa (M. thymifolia, M. albanica, M. dalmatica and M. pulegium) contained a large quantity of oil (> 0.5%) dominated by oxygenated monoterpenes of the menthane type, while the species of section Eumicromeria (M. croatica, M. juliana, M. cristata and M. parviflora) had a small quantity of essential oil (< 0.5%) dominated by various terpene compounds. 0.5% of essential oil is defined like boundary value on the basis of the lowest quantity of essential oil measured in populations of species of section Pseudomelissa.