Composition of the essential oil of Thuja occidentalis under different growth conditions
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31989/bchd.v8i11.1787Resumé
Background: Thuja occidentalis essential oil is valuable in an antimicrobial treatment. Its main component, thujone, has biological activity against bronchial catarrh, cystitis, psoriasis, and rheumatism. At the same time, thujone is distinguished by its neurotoxic effect. Thuja occidentalis varieties, such as Thuja occidentalis ‘Pyramidalis’, are widely used in urban green spaces.
Objective: This study aims to estimate the influence of growth conditions and plant age on Thuja occidentalis ‘Pyramidalis’ leaves' essential oil composition.
Methods: The study was conducted on Thuja occidentalis’ Pyramidalis' plants grown in hydroponic and soil conditions. Red and black slags were used as hydroponic growth substrates. Soil plants and some of the black slag plants were 5-year-old, and red slag plants, and the other half of the black slag plants were 4-year-old. Essential oil was obtained from fresh needle leaves of the plants via hydrodistillation. Essential oil component composition was estimated by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy.
Results: Received data showed that the highest thujone content was observed in plants grown on red slag (71.34%), while the other variants had similar low thujone content (soil plants – 58.46%, 5-year-old black slag plants – 59.61%, and 4-year-old black slag plants – 60.3%). The essential oil from 4-year-old plants does not contain β-pinene or terpinen-4-ol. At the same time, the highest content of α-pinene was recorded in 4-year-old black slag plants’ essential oil (7.38%) and the lowest in 4-year-old red slag plants’ essential oil (2.61%); the other two variants' results were close to those of 4-year-old black slag plants.
Novelty: For the first time, the essential oil composition of Thuja occidentalis cultivated on various hydroponic substrates was investigated and compared to that of plants grown in soil.
Conclusion: According to the results, Thuja occidentalis ‘Pyramidalis’ plants grown on black slag have similarities with soil plants in essential oil composition, while red slag plants show strong differences. Growth conditions affect the composition of essential oils. Plant age also influences it.
Keywords: thujone, pinene, red and black slag, Ararat Valley, hydroponics
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Ophavsret (c) 2025 Anahit Hakobjanyan, Astghik Karapetyan, Aristakes Ghahramanyan, Anna Yeghiazaryan, Armen Gasparyan, Khachatur Mayrapetyan
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