Phytochemical and essential oil analysis of aerial parts and flowers of Calendula officinalis and Calendula arvensis spread in Damascus

Abstract

Calendula is a member of the Asteraceae family and has a wide spread throughout Europe and Asia. This genus has over 11 plant species, and it’s well known for its medical properties like anti-inflammatory effects and treatment of skin disorders. It is important to study the chemical composition of the essential oil of the types of the marigold plant that grows in Syria to verify the validity of its popular use and to distinguish the chemical groups present in the plant parts due to the absence of studies on the types of the marigold plant. Through qualitative detection of chemical groups in flowers, aerial parts and roots was discovered  the presence of saponins, flavonoids, tanins and coumarins in C.officinalis and C.arvensis, while antraquinones and cardenolides were absent. The essential oil obtained by hydro-distillation from flowers and aerial parts of C. arvensis and C. officinalis was analysed by GC-MS and the most abundant compounds within the essential oil of C.arvensis flowers were Viridiflorol, delta-Cadinene and Gamma Muurolene with a percentage of 22.9%, 14.8% and 15.4% respectively, while the essential oil of C.officinalis flowers was rich in alpha-Cadinol and delta-cadinene with a percentage of 25.70% and 25.72% respectively for the orange flowers and 31.4% and 19.0% respectively for the yellow flowers and the areal parts were rich in delta-cadinene for C. arvensis species and C. officinalis respectively.