K. Javidnia,* R. Miri and A. R. Khosravi

Abstract: The essential oil of Teucrium persicum Boiss. was obtained by hydrodistillation of the aerial parts of the plant and analyzed by GC and GC/MS. Eighty-one components representing 93.5% of the total oil were identified. The main components of the oil were caryophyllene oxide (10.6%), α−pinene (9.4%), geranyl linalool (7.8%), γ−cadinene (7.4%), elemol (6.9%) and α−cadinol (5.5%).

The genus Teucrium belongs to the Lamiaceae family and comprises about 13 species in Iran (1). Various species of this genus are known for their use in folk medicine. In Iranian folk medicine, T.polium is used as anticonvulsant (2). The essential oil of T.polium has been reported to possess antispasmodic activity and an ethanolic extract showed anti-inflammatory, antipyretic and antibacterial activities (3–5). Teucrium montanum, T. chamaedrys T.polium and T.marum have also been found to possess antioxidant activity (6,7). This genus contains a large variety of compounds, mainly flavonoids, diterpenoids, steroids and essential oils (8). Teucrium persicum is an endemic plant of Iran and is distributed only in south of Iran. As far as we know, there is no previous report on the chemical analysis of the oil of T. persicum.