Chemical composition of the aerial parts of Lavandula dhofarensis A.G.Mill. subsp. ayunensis and Lavandula dhofarensis A.G.Mill. subsp. dhofarensis essential oils

Lavandula L., distributed from Macaronesia to Mediterranean area and India, is a single genus of the tribe Lavanduleae (Endl.) Boiss, a member of the Lamiaceae (Labiatae) family. Lavandula dhofarensis A.G.Mill. subsp. ayunensis and Lavandula dhofarensis A.G.Mill. subsp. dhofarensis are two taxa belonging to the almost unexplored section Subnudae. The first one is endemic to the mountains of Southern Oman, whereas the second one, apart from Southern Oman, also grows in Southeast Yemen. The compositions of the essential oils (EOs) obtained by hydrodistillation of L. dhofarensis subsp. ayunensis (LDA) and L. dhofarensis subsp. dhofarensis (LDD), never previously investigated, were evaluated by GC-MS analysis. Both EOs showed high sesquiterpene contents, classed as sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (31.22% and 36.71%, respectively) and oxygenated sesquiterpenes (8.43% and 29.70%, respectively), and lower quantity of oxygenated monoterpenoids. Main constituents are α-pinene (8.63%), (E)-β-caryophyllene (8.17%), and γ-muurolene (6.72%) for LDA, and are γ-elemene (12.42%) and epi-α-muurolol (7.57%) for LDD.