The Slovak gene pool of German chamomile (Matricaria recutita L.) and comparison in its parameters

Plant habit and production of secondary metabolites in chamomile plants depend on endogenous and exogenous factors that can be divided into two groups (FRANZ 1982): a) morpho-ontogenetic variability, b) genetic variability or genetic determinateness. The activity of these factors is reflected in biomass production, flower drug production, content and composition of essential oil and some other characteristics of chamomile stands. This study presents genetic and environmental variations of essential oil and its sesquiterpene composition – (-)-α-Bisabololoxide A, (-)-α-Bisabololoxide B, (-)-α-Bisabolol and Chamazulene – in a wild chamomile population growing in the East-Slovakian Lowland in comparison with bred varieties that are cultivated in Slovakia at this time. The highest contents of (-)-α-Bisabololoxide A (mean: 39.90%) and (-)-α-Bisabololoxide B (mean: 9.75%) are typical of chamomile plants whose flower anthodia were collected at various places in the East-Slovakian Lowland. These results show that it is a Bisabololoxide chemotype B of chamomile population (LAWRENCE 1986). Qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the chamomile essential oil of selected cultivars indicate (-)-α-Bisabolol (mean: 39.75%) and Chamazulene (mean: 16.75%) as dominant compounds. The chamomile varieties bred for a high content of the main compounds belong to the chemotype C group (LAWRENCE 1986). Parameters of the composition of essential oil from cultivated chamomile varieties, (-)-α-Bisabolol & Chamazulene, markedly exceeded the parameters measured in chamomile collected from the wild nature in the East-Slovakian Lowland.