Journal of Medicinal Plants and By-products (2013) 1: 69-74 Original Article *Corresponding author: Department of Medicinal Plants, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Arak University, Arak, 38156-8-8349, Iran. Emails: m_ghorbanpour@yahoo.com & m-ghorbanpour@araku.ac.ir Chemical Analysis of Essential Oils from Different Populations of Ferulago angulata subsp. carduchorum in Iran Naser Hosseini 1 , Hossein Salehi Arjmand 1 , Mansour Ghorbanpour 1* , Vahid Azhdehark 1 1 Department of Medicinal Plants, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Arak University, Arak, Iran Article History: Received: 13 February 2013/Accepted in revised form: 18 June 2013 © 2013 Iranian Society of Medicinal Plants. All rights reserved. Abstract Ferulago angulata subsp. carduchorum (Boiss. & Hausskn.) D.F. Chamb is a perennial species of the family Apiaceae and is locally used as a flavouring agent and for some medicinal properties. The essential oil of this plant if found to possess antibacterial and antifungal activities. The present study is aimed to determine constituents of essential oils from inflorescence of four F. angulata subsp. carduchorum populations. Air-dried samples were subjected to hydrodistillation using a Clevenger-type apparatus and extracted oils were chemically analyzed by means of GC and GC-MS. Results: With the average of 1.99% (w/w), the oil content of studied populations varied from 0.86% (Dalahoo) to 2.39% (Azgale). All oils were characterized by the high amounts of monoterpene hydrocarbons (71.1-83.6%), and the low levels of sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (2.0-7.8%) and especially oxygenated ones (absent to 3.5%). α-Pinene (7.1-29.8%), (Z)-β-ocimene (14.7-45.9%), allo-ocimene (5.9-16.7%), γ-terpinene (2.0-12.2%) and bornyl acetate (3.0-7.3%) were found to be the principal volatiles of populations in question. There were significant differences in the chemical composition of studied populations, which, considering constituents of an essential oil determine its flavor and biological activities, enabled selection of favored populations for use in different industries. Key words: Ferulago angulata subsp. carduchorum, Essential oils, α-pinene, (Z)-β-ocimene Introduction Growing awareness of residual toxicity or potential side effects of chemical preservatives have resulted in increasing pressure on food industry to reduce or eliminate the use of these synthetic compounds. Among other alternative methods, essential oils or their isolated components have received a special interest to develop as natural preservatives for extension of food product’s shelf life and maintenance of their quality [1-3]. In fact, natural origin, known antioxidant and antimicrobial activities and reduced risk of microbial resistance [2,4-6] are special properties of these aromatic liquids that make them promising for this purpose. Due to their therapeutic and preservative properties and pleasant tastes and aromas, essential oils are also intensely screened and used in medicine, perfumery, cosmetics etc. in addition to food flavoring and preservation. It has been shown that composition of essential oils and relative concentrations of oil components, and so their biological properties, vary among species and relate to the factors such as geographical origin, season, genetic background, type of plant organ, environmental conditions and stage of development [7-9]. Ferulago W.D.J. Koch. is a member of Apiaceae (Umbelliferae) family and comprises approximately 35-40 species of herbaceous plants with wide distribution in the temperate zone of both hemispheres, especially in Central Asia and Mediterranean area [10,11]. Among other groups of secondary metabolites, the plants have been