Comparison of essential oil of Melissa officinalis with species of Dracocephalum sold under the name of lemongrass in the market of medicinal plants in Iran

Zohreh, Bakhtiyari; Minaeifar, Amir Abaas; Bakhshi Khaniki, GholamReza; Yazdi Niapour, Zeynab; Haerinasab, Maryam

doi:10.22034/jpr.2025.8537.3378

Comparison of essential oil of Melissa officinalis with species of Dracocephalum sold under the name of lemongrass in the market of medicinal plants in Iran

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Bakhtiyari Zohreh ¹

Amir Abaas Minaeifar ²

GholamReza Bakhshi Khaniki ³

Zeynab Yazdi Niapour ¹

Maryam Haerinasab ³

¹ Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.

² Faculty member, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Payam Noor University, Tehran. Iran

³ Faculty member,Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Payam Noor University, Tehran. Iran

10.22034/jpr.2025.8537.3378

Abstract

Medicinal plants are supplied from the most important natural sources of medicine and sometimes the lack of knowledge and skill in recognizing similar species lead to the presence of accidental or intentional frauds in the supply of plants that offer medicinal compounds different from the original species. Since medicinal plants are used abundantly in our country, this issue is important, lemon balm is one of the types of drugs that are used for medicinal purposes, it is being replaced by other species of the genus Dracocephalum. In this research, the essential oil of the main lemongrass species is compared with the replaced species of the genus Dracocephalum. After preparing the identified samples and extracting them from Folin Ciocaltio reagent, the GC method with helium carrier gas is used to determine the amount of phenol and determine the type and amount of essential oil. SPSS version 22 and PAST version 3.2 software were used for statistical analysis of data. Based on the results of this test, Melissa officinalis in the percentage of compounds Citronellol, Germacrene D, Mirtenol, a pinene, b pinene, Comphor Caryophyllene Oxide, a humulene, a elemol, B elemene, Thymol, Myrcene, Caryophellen, Spathunelol and 1,8 Cineole and It has a different function with all the species of the Dracocephalum genus. the wide range of medicinal uses of Lemon Balm and number of non-original species offered under the name of lemon balm, it is important to inform about counterfeits and possible similarities and replaced species under the name of Lemon Balm.

Keywords

Dracocephalum

Essential Oil

Lemon Balm

Melissa officinalis

Subjects