Morphological and Essential Oils Diversities among Twelve Tunisian Mentha spp. Accessions

Eight quantitative and thirteen qualitative traits were analyzed using univariate and multivariate analysis. Significant differences have been showed between the accessions and the cluster analysis revealed five main groups within the mint collection. The first group (accession 1) was identified as M.aquatica L.; the second group (accession 12) was identified as M.pulegium L.; the third group (accession 3), was identified as M.longifolia L.; the fourth group (accession 8) was identified as M.rotundifolia L.; and the fifth group (accessions 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 and 11) was identified as M.spicata L. Thereafter, phytochemical diversity of these accessions was analyzed by gas chromatography (GC-FID and GC-MS). 52 essential oil constituents were identified, representing 78-100% of total essential oils. Cluster analysis of quantitative and qualitative diversity of these essential oils identified four groups. The first (accession 1) was characterized by linalool (47.02%), 1.8-Cineol (8.75%) and linalyl acetate (13.90%); the second (accessions 3 and 12) was characterized by pulegone (59.08 to 60.06%) and menthone (12.06 to19.72%); the third group (accession 8) was characterized by piperitone oxide (74.25%); and the fourth group (accessions 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, and 11) was characterized by carvone (53.71-75.53%), limonene (17.85-10.15%) and 1.8-Cineol (9.6%)