Abstract:
An experiment was conducted to observe the influence of harvest cut height on essential oil yield and composition of sweet marjoram (Majorana hortensis Moench) cultivated in Kumaon region of western Himalaya. Three different cuts viz. top 1/3; top 2/3 and whole plant were carried out in respective plants. Essential oil yield was highest in the top-1/3 (0.47 %) followed top-2/3 (0.38 %) and whole herb (0.33 %). A total of 35 constituents representing 94.56 % - 98.31 % of the total oils were identified by GC and GC-MS. The major components were (Z)-sabinene hydrate (27.09 % - 36.0 %), terpinen-4-ol (17.16 % - 21.65 %), γ-terpinene (5.42 % - 10.71 %), sabinene (7.34 % - 7.89 %), (E)-sabinene hydrate (5.79 % - 6.40 %), α-terpinene (4.65 % - 6.66 %), and α-terpineol (3.46 % - 3.88 %). The concentration of oxygenated monoterpenes (63.01 % - 69.79 %) was decrease with the inclusion of lower portion of the plant, whilst its reverse was true for monoterpene hydrocarbons (26.86 % - 33.56 %).
