Chemical Composition of the Volatile Oil from Aerial Parts of Rosmarinus officinalis L. Growing in UAE

In the present study, the chemical composition of the volatile oil hydrodistilled from aerial parts of Rosmarinus officinalis L., growing in UAE, was determined by means of GC/FID and GC/MS analyses. The oil was characterised by dominant concentration of monoterpenes (91.7%), particularly the oxygenated fraction (64.4%), with 1,8-cineole (25.5%), a well-known compound for its medicinal and pharmaceutical values, as the principal component. Isobornyl acetate (15.7%), camphor (12.2%), α-pinene (11.7%), camphene (9.0%), and β-caryophyllene (4.9%) were also identified among the other major oil constituents. The predominant level of 1,8-cineole in the analysed oil could assign a 1,8-cineole chemotype to the studied Emirati rosemary species. Compared with plants growing in other countries, the obtained results revealed a characteristic - mainly quantitative - profile of the volatile oil of the investigated species.