Occurrence and smell of the “white” and “black” oregano (Origanum vulgare) in mount Belles (GR 1260001)

Origanum vulgare L. plants are widely used since antiquity as food flavorings and infusions, while their essential oils (EO) are used nowadays in a wide range of applications. Mount Belles (Beles) is located in SE Europe, shared by Greece, N. Macedonia and Bulgaria. It lies in the Northern part of the NATURA 2000 site GR1260001 (LIMNI KERKINI - KROUSIA - KORYFES OROUS BELES, ANGISTRO – CHAROPO) [1]. In the frame of a wider project dealing with the morphological variation and EO composition of O. vulgare, aerial parts of flowering plants were collected from four geographical distinct localities of mount Belles. The dominant habitat type in each collection area was considered according to EUNIS [2] [3]. Based on a number of diagnostic - morphological characters (such as size and colour of bracts and corollas, number and size of leaf sessile glands), the plants were taxonomically identified as O. vulgare subsp. hirtum (Link) Ietswaart (white oregano) and O. vulgare subsp. vulgare (black oregano). The total EO yield (mL 100g^-1 d.w.) and carvacrol content (% of identified peaks, by Headspace GC-MS) of subsp. hirtum plants collected from three localities of low to medium altitudes (<450 m), where the habitat Pannonian-Balkanic turkey oak-sessile oak forests (code 91M0) dominates, was 1.8 and 92.5, 2.3 and 92.6, and 2.7 and 86.0, respectively. On the other hand, subsp. vulgare collected from a higher altitude (1335 m), where the habitat Asperulo-Fagetum beech forests (9130) occurs, had a much lower EO yield (0.1%) and composition mainly characterized by sesquiterpenes.

The authors declare no conflict of interest

• References

• 1 https://eunis.eea.europa.eu/sites/GR1260001 (01/06/2021)
• 2 https://eunis.eea.europa.eu/habitats.jsp (01/06/2021)
• 3 http://mapsportal.ypen.gr/maps/203 (01/06/2021)

Publication History

Article published online:
13 December 2021