Chemical diversity of wild growing Origanum majorana in Cyprus.

The present work aims at tracing the essential-oil diversity of wild growing Origanum majorana plants in Cyprus. The study of six populations scattered over the western part of the island has shown that the essential oils were rich either in trans-sabinene hydrate/terpinen-4-ol or in α-terpineol/trans-sabinene hydrate. The former oil type is more common and responsible for the typical marjoram odor of the plants. The comparison of our results with published data concerning wild and cultivated O. majorana showed that the oil composition of the Cypriot populations had not been reported from wild plants from other parts of the Mediterranean region, while it is very common among the cultivated plants. Thus, it seems probable that the nowadays cultivated marjoram may originate from Cypriot wild populations.