Global J Res. Med. Plants & Indigen. Med. | Volume 2, Issue 12 | December 2013 | 794–807 Global Journal of Research on Medicinal Plants & Indigenous Medicine || GJRMI || ISSN 2277-4289 | www.gjrmi.com | International, Peer reviewed, Open access, Monthly Online Journal CHARACTERISTICS OF ESSENTIAL OILS OF ROSMARINUS OFFICINALIS FROM EASTERN ALGERIA Takia Lograda 1 *, Messaoud Ramdani 2 , Pierre Chalard 3 , Gilles Figueredo 4 1, 2 Laboratory of Natural Resource Valorisation, SNV Faculty, Setif 1 University, 19000 Setif, Algeria 3 Clermont Université, ENSCCF, Institut de Chimie de Clermont-Ferrand, BP 10448, F-63000 Clermont- Ferrand, France 3 CNRS, UMR 6296, ICCF, F-63171 Aubiere, France 4 LEXVA Analytique, 460 rue du Montant, 63110 Beaumont, France *Corresponding author: Email: tlograda63@yahoo.fr ; Phone: (213)36835894; Fax: (213)36937943. Received: 07/10/2013; Revised: 23/11/2013; Accepted: 25/11/2013 ABSTRACT The analysis and identification of the essential oil components of six Rosmarinus officinalis populations, from Eastern Algeria, was performed using GC-MS. The average yield of essential oil samples is 0.23%, the highest rate was observed in the essential oil of Kherrata population (0.35%), while Agmeroual population was characterised by the lowest yield (0.10%). These analyses led to the identification of 43 components. The chemical composition of the essential oil was dominated by the presence of major products, camphor (9.1–42.7%), eucalyptol (6.6–42.2%), α-pinene (11.4– 25.2%), camphene (5.3–17.7%) and borneol (0.9–11.9%). Seven components were represented with average rates more than 1% in the essential oil, β-pinene, para-cymene, limonene, linalool, terpinene- 4-ol, α-terpineol and β-caryophyllene. This investigation allows us to support that the species Rosmarinus officinalis of eastern Algeria includes several chemotypes. The chemotype to (eucalyptol, Camphor, α-pinene and camphene) was located in the regions of Kherrata and Bibans. The regions of N’gaous, Agmeroual and Boussâada had favoured the development of chemotype to (camphor, camphene, α-pinene and eucalyptol). The chemotype to (α-pinene, camphor, camphene and eucalyptol) was located in the Boutaleb region. KEYWORDS: Rosmarinus officinalis, Lamiaceae, Essential oil, Chemotype, Algeria Research article Cite this article: Takia Lograda, Messaoud Ramdani, Pierre Chalard, Gilles Figueredo (2013), Characteristics of essential oils of Rosmarinus officinalis from Eastern Algeria, Global J Res. Med. Plants & Indigen. Med., Volume 2(12): 794–807