Study of essential oil, phenol and flavonoid compounds of Myrtus communis L. in three forest habitats of Zagros

The medicinal shrub, scientifically named Myrtus communis L. is one of the valuable wild medicinal shrubs. The aim of this study was to investigate the essential oil, phenol and flavonoid compositions of this plant in three forest habitats of Zagros. For this purpose, leaf samples were prepared from 20 stands with a distance of at least 15 meters during the flowering season. Then, essential oil extraction was carried out by water distillation using Clevenger apparatus and the content of phenol and flavonoids was measured using Folin-Cocaltive and Aluminum Chloride methods, respectively and Gas chromatography and gas chromatography devices connected to mass spectrometers were used to identify the essential oil compounds. The results showed that the highest content of phenols and flavonoids was related to the habitat of Mal-Agha Khuzestan with an average of 3.048 mg of quercetin per gram of extract and 7.79 mg of gallic acid per gram of extract, respectively. The results also showed that the five compounds of α-pinene, cineole, linalool, alphaterpineol and linalyl acetate were the main and predominant essential oils of this species in all habitats. Findings of this study showed that the environmental characteristics of the habitat, especially altitude, electrical conductivity and organic carbon affect the phenol and flavonoid content