CHEMICAL POLYMORPHISM OF THE ESSENTIAL OIL OF THYMUS-CARNOSUS FROM PORTUGAL

The composition of the essential oils of 11 populations of Thymus carn osus from Portugal and their infraspecific variability were investigat ed by GC, CC-MS and C-13 NMR. The results obtained were submitted to P rincipal Component and Chemometric Cluster Analyses, Borneol was the m ain constituent in all the populations except in one, which had a high content of linalool. This compound showed high percentages in samples originating from the region of Estremadura. Multivariate analysis all owed the distinction between three different groups of essential oils, (i) borneol/cis-sabinene hydrate/terpinen-4-ol, (ii) linalool/borneol /trans-sabinene hydrate and (iii) borneol/camphene.