Aroma profile of leaf and stem of lemon balm (Melissa Officinalis L.) grown under greenhouse conditions

Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis L.), member of Lamiaceae family, is one of the important medicinal plant species. The plant is used in medicine, cosmetic and food industry. In this study lemon balm plants were grown in greenhouse. Hydrodistillation was used to isolate the essential oils and chemical analyses were performed by GC and GC-MS with three replications. The yield of the oils of leaves and stem were 0.36% and 0.014% respectively. Twenty components in leaf and 19 components in stem essential oils of lemon balm were identified. The major components of leaf essential oils were geranial (43.1%), neral (33.4%), pentadecanal (4.7%), geranyl acetate (2.9%) and [beta]-caryophyllene (2.4%). Similarly the major components of stem essential oils were geranial (34.9%), neral (23.5%), geranyl acetate (7.5%), hexadecanoic acid (4.3%), caryophyllene oxide (4.0%) and [beta]-caryophyllene (3.5%). Key words: geranial, neral, hydrodistillation, medicinal plants, GC-MS.