Chemical Variability of the Essential Oil of Pituranthos scoparius from Algeria

The chemical composition of 93 oil samples from the aerial parts of Pituranthos scoparius , harvested in three regions of Algeria, was investigated by GC ‐ FID , GC / MS and 13 C‐ NMR . Monoterpene hydrocarbons dominated in association with phenylpropanoids and a chemical variability was found highlighting three clusters. The composition of group I (36 samples) exhibited an atypical composition characterized by a very high contents of 6‐methoxyelemicine (13.0 – 59.6%), followed by sabinene (1.1 – 43.0%) and limonene (6.6 – 39.0%), while the samples of group II (12 samples) contained a high content of limonene (9.2 – 44.0%), followed by myristicine (0.0 – 29.4%) and a lower amount of sabinene (0.8 – 2.3%). Group III (45 samples) could be divided in two subgroups. Subgroup SGIIIA was characterized by a very high content of sabinene (28.0 – 55.6%), followed by elemicine (0.0 – 29.1%), while the samples belonging to SGIIIB were characterized by the lower content of sabinene (6.2 – 35.5%) and a significant content of myristicine (1.5 – 32.4%), α ‐pinene (4.2 – 31.0%) and dill apiole (0.1 – 31.4%). Each harvested region was characterized by a different chemical composition.