The Chemical Composition of Essential Oils of Melissa officinalis subsp. altissima from Turkey

Abstract: melissa officinalis is a perennial herb and it is a member of the lamiaceae family. in this study, the determining of chemical contents of m. officinalis subsp. altissima originated from the wild flora of turkey was aimed. the seeds collected from the wild flora of antalya, were grown in greenhouse conditions and experimental field. then dried leaves were hydrodistillated with clevenger apparatus and samples were analysed with a gas chromatography. in total, twenty-three constituents were identified, representing 92.5–94.7% of the oils. the oils of all samples were rich in sesquiterpenes such as caryophyllene oxide (44.5-33.3%), β-copaene (10.00-8.72%) and caryophyllene (5.57-8.26%). caryophyllene oxide was the major component in all three samples (44.5-33.4-38.58%, respectively).