CHEMICAL AND BOTANICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF A ROSMARINUS OFFICINALIS L. BIOTYPE FROM SICILY

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) is widely cultivated all over the world as ornamental and aromatic plant. Today, the interest towards its cultivation is strongly arising, due to the many biological activities exerted by the essential oil extracted from its leaves and flowers. Which compounds confer to Rosemary's essential oil its properties is still unclear, but it seems likely that these effects must be attributed to a mixture of different principles, acting contemporarily and synergically. The diverse composition of the essential oils of Rosemary's ecotypes coming from different geographical areas could be the reason of their various level of activity. With the aim of obtaining further information about the characteristics of Rosemary native to the Mediterranean environments, a spontaneous biotype, collected near Villalba (CL - Sicily) has been characterized both from the morphological and chemical point of view. Both in wild and in field conditions, the plant showed a definite and uncommon prostrate growing habit. The high amount of 1,8-cineole (56,2 % v/w) found in the essential oil allowed to classify our chemotype as cineoliferum. All the other volatiles were found in amounts inside the limits reported by literature.