Chemotype diversity of commercial essential oils

Aromatic plants (APs) have been used since antiquity as a potential source of drug in folk medicine, and as preservatives in foods. APs contain many biologically active compounds, mainly essential oils (EOs) and phenolics. In particular, EOs are highly complex mixtures involving several tens to hundreds of different types of volatile compounds such as terpenoid, oxygenated terpenes, sesquiterpenes, and hydrocarbons, which are responsible for characteristic aroma of APs. EOs have been widely used for their virucidal, bactericidal, fungicidal, anticancer, antioxidant, antidiabetic activities that are strictly linked to their chemical composition [1-3]. The aim of the present work was to study the chemotaxonomy of plants by analyzing the chemical composition of the EOs, comparing fourteen commercial EOs, by means of Principal Component Analysis (PCA).