Essential Oils in Some Stachys Species growing in Hungary

The volatile oil compositions of five Stachys species (Stachys officinalis L., St. grandiflora Host., St. byzantina Koch., St. germanica L. and St. sylvatica L.) have been studied using a GC/MS technique. All species gave low yields of oil. From St. officinalis 38 compounds were separated and partly identified, from St. grandiflora 24, St. byzantina 30, St. germanica 29 and St. sylvatica 43. All the samples contained o-ocymene, β-phellandrene, γ-terpinene, linalool, transand cis-pinocamphone, βcaryophyllene, δ-cadinene and α-cadinol. The steam distilled oils were poor in monobut rich in sesquiterpenes. Some of the sesquiterpenes, like germacrene D, epi-cubebol, and αand γ-muurolene are reported in Stachys species for the first time. The iridoids, harpagide and 8-O-acetyl-harpagide, were identified by TLC in the MeOH extracts of St. sylvatica, St. byzantina, St. officinalis (Betonica officinalis) and Betonica serotina. Taking other chemical constituents also into account Stachys species seem to be similar to those of the subfam. Lamioideae (according to Erdtman’s classification). INTRODUCTION In the course of our systematic chemotaxonomic investigation of the family Lamiaceae (Máthé et al., 1993), we have found the genus Stachys especially interesting for detailed study not only as it is the second largest genus of the family, but also as its chemistry is little known. There exist some uncertainties both in the place of the genus in the family and in the distinction between the genera Stachys and Betonica. The family Lamiaceae has been classified in different ways by Briquet, Bentham, Erdtman, and Cantino and Sanders (Cantino and Sanders, 1986) and, more recently by Cantino, Harley and Wagstaff (1992). Unlike Erdtman’s system, Bentham and Briquet, in their eight subfamilial (Bentham named ‘tribes’) system, regard the genus Stachys as a member of the subfam. Stachyoideae (tribe Stachydeae in Bentham’s system), which has morphological features characteristic of the subfam. Lamioideae in Erdtman's two subfamilial system. On the basis of literature, Stachys species contain iridoids and caffeic acid, lack rosmarinic acid, but yield essential oils. So, from chemical viewpoints, this genus may be a member of Erdtman's subfam. Lamioideae (Cantino and Sanders, 1986, Máthé, et al., 1993, Hegnauer, 1996,1990). The genus also shows some characteristics with regard to flavonoid contents (Kotsos, 2000; Skaltsa, 2000; Barberan, 1988; Skaltsa et al., 1999; Adams 1995). To verify some of these points, five Stachys species, either native to or easily cultivated in Hungary, have been studied. These are Stachys officinalis (L.) Trevis. (Betonica officinalis L.), St. grandiflora Host., St. byzantina Koch., St. germanica L. and St. sylvatica L. The rightness of the segregation of Stachys officinalis, as Betonica officinalis, from the genus Stachys is also discussed. MATERIALS AND METHODS Plants were cultivated in the experimental field of the Research Institute of Ecology and Botany of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (at Vácrátót, 40 km north of