A study on some secondary metabolites and quantity and quality of essential oil of Marrubium vulgare L. grown in Guynik district (North Khorasan province)

To evaluate the biological potential and medicinal properties, the biochemical compositions and quantity and quality of essential oil of Marrubium vulgare L., grown in the natural habitat located in Guynik region, North Khorasan province, were investigated. The content of secondary metabolites including phenol and flavonoids, and antioxidant capacity were measured in laboratory methods. Essential oil of plant was obtained by hydro distillation method and dehydrated with anhydrous sodium sulfate, then it was quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography / mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The results showed that the essential oil yield was 0.24% (w/w), and oxygenated monoterpenes made up 52.40% of essential oil. Also, 18 compounds were identified in the essential oil of M. vulgare plant that the main compounds were dodecanal (23.02%), ß-bisabolene (15.65%) and thymol (9.60%). In this study, the phenol content of extract of M. vulgare was 72.01 (mg Gallic acid/g Dry weight), the flavonoids content was 6.25 (mg Quercetin/g Dry weight) and its antioxidant capacity was 81.12 (μg/ml). Overall, based on the results, it seems that M. vulgare grown in Guinik region can be a potential and rich source of natural antioxidant compounds.