Abstract

Kelussia odoratissima ‎Mozaff. is an endemic plant in Iran, which has been used as a sedative and vegetable in Bakhtiari folk. The plant is known as Keluss or Karafs-e- Bakhtiari in Persian. The wild and cultivated plant populations of K. odoratissima collected throughout two provinces (Isfahan and Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari), Southwest Iran, were examined for chemical variability in leaves for components. The essential oils of K. odoratissima of eighteen populations were obtained by hydro-distillation and analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The results revealed that differences in the content of compounds depending on region of sample collection. The main constituents of the essential oils were 3-n butyl phtalide (34.1 to 45.6%), neophyadiene (42.2 to 68.2%), e3-tetradeceneylacetate (1.1-5.2%), butylidene phthalide (1.1 to 9.2%), hexadecanoic (1.1 to 5.3%) and 6-butyl-1.4-cycloheptadin (1.1 to 6.1%). It can be concluded that two main chemotypes (3-n butyl phtalide and neophyadiene) of essential oils of K. odoratissima may be identified by the characteristic concentrations of the major compounds. The wild and cultivated populations of K. odoratissima were divided into five groups based on cluster analysis.

Key words: Kelussia odoratissima ‎Mozaff., chemotype, essential oil, phthalides.