Indian Journal of Fundamental and Applied Life Sciences ISSN: 2231-6345 (Online) An Open Access, Online International Journal Available at http://www.cibtech.org/jls.htm 2014 Vol. 4 (4) October-December, pp.36-42/Yazdanpanah et al. Research Article © Copyright 2014 | Centre for Info Bio Technology (CIBTech) 36 THE EFFECTS OF GROWTH HABITAT OF MEDICINAL PLANT YARROW (ACHILLEA WILHELMSII C.KOCH) ON THE ESSENTIAL OIL CONSTITUENTS Enayatollah Yazdanpanah 1 , * Ali Moradshahi 1 and Vahid Rowshan 2 1 Department of Biology, Shiraz University, 71454 Shiraz, Iran 2 Department of Natural Resources, Fars Research Center for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Shiraz, Iran * Author for Correspondence ABSTRACT It is known that growth conditions can affect the amount and types of the essential oil constituents of many plants. In the present study, aerial parts of Achillea wilhelmsii at the flowering stage were collected from seven locations of Dena and Boyer-Ahmad, located in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province (latitude 30.67 N, longitude 51.60E), and their essential oils were extracted by means of steam distillation. The chemical constituents of the essential oils were analyzed using GC/MS. The results showed that the amounts of essential oils varied from 0.1 up to 0.56 ml per 100 gr DW of the plant species. Variations were also observed in the constituents of the essential oils. The ten main compounds were 1,8-cineol, linalool, E-nerolidol, caryophyllene oxide, α-pinene, α-terpineol, thymol, terpinene-4-ol, camphor and P- cymene. It is concluded that altitude, together with different environmental conditions, could affect the degree of biosynthesis and accumulation of essential oils in Achillea wilhelmsii. Keywords: Achillea Wilhelmsii, Altitude, Essential Oils INTRODUCTION Achillea wilhelmsii C.Koch is a perennial medicinal herb belonging to the family of Compositae (Asteraceae), which comprises more than 120 species. The plants are native to Europe and western Asia, though populations have also been discovered in Australia, New Zealand, and North America. Nineteen species of the genus Achillea have been recorded in the Flora Iranica. Achillea wilhelmsii C.Koch, locally known as "boomadaran", is the major species which grows wildly in some regions of Iran and is widely used in Iranian traditional medicine (Rechinger, 1963; Mozaffarian, 1966; Dokhani et al., 2005). Several pharmaceuticalproperties of Achillea, such as its anti-inflammatory (Candan et al., 2003), antibacterial (Candan et al., 2003; Stojanovic et al., 2005; Mahady et al., 2005), antitumor (Tozyo et al., 1994; Csupor-Loffler et al., 2009), antispasmodic (Lemmens-Gruber et al., 2006; Yaeesh et al., 2006), choleretic (Benedek et al., 2006), antiulcer (Cavalcanti et al., 2006), and antiallergic (Asgary et al., 2000) characteristics, have been documented. The cosmetic and healthcare industries make use of A. wilhelmsii essential oils to produce skin ointment and to treat skin inflammations (Pieroni et al., 2004). Some studies have indicated that Achillea species such as A. santolina (Ardestani and Yazdanparast, 2007), A. ligustica (Tuberoso et al., 2005) and A. clavennae (Stojanovic et al., 2005) have antioxidant properties which can inactivate free radicals. It has also been shown that Achillea contains aromatic bitter substances and tannins which have noticeable effects on the nervous system and are effective in the treatment of neurological diseases such as neurasthenia, epilepsy and seizures (Azadbakht et al., 2003). The genus Achillea is rich in flavonoids, sesquiterpene lactones, and monoterpenoids, which have antioxidant activity (Baris et al., 2006; Candan et al., 2003; Nemeth and Bernath, 2008) and also have been shown to be effective in lowering both blood lipids and hypertension (Asgary et al., 2000). Its major chemical components are alkaloids (achilleine), cineol, borneol, α- and β-pinene, luteolin, apigenin, lignans, camphor, caryophllene, thujene, rutin and carvacrol (Dokhani et al., 2005; Afshrypour et al., 1996; Javidnia et al., 2004; Jaimand and Rezaee, 2001). Achillea wilhelmsii growing in different parts of Iran such as Fars (Javidnia et al., 2004), Mazandaran (Azadbakht, 2003) and Kerman (Afshrypour et al., 1996) provinces have been analyzed for both their