Composition of Oils of Three Cultivated Forms of Hyssopus officinalis Endemic in Yugoslavia: f. albus Alef., f. cyaneus Alef. and f. ruber Mill.

Abstract Three forms of hyssop Hyssopus officinalis L., f. cyaneus Alef., f. ruber Mill, and f. albus Alef. occurring wild in Yugoslavia were multiplied and cultivated. The cyaneus form, characterized by its blue flowers, yielded between 4.9 and 5.8 tonnes of fresh plant material per hectare, and essential oil in yields ranging from 0.65–0.75%. The pink-flowered ruber form and the white flowered albus, respectively, yielded 3.9–5.1 tonnes/ha and 4.5–6.5 tonnes/ha of fresh plant material in yields of 0.7–1.1% and 0.6–1.0%. Chemical analysis of the different batches of oils produced shows they are composed mainly of cis and trans-pinocamphone, and pinocarvone, together with lesser amounts of germacrene D, bicyclogermacrene, elemol and spathulenol.