Potential of Medicinal Plant Production in Iran and Variability of Chamomile (Matricaria recutitaL.) Essential Oil Quality

The Islamic Republic of Iran has a fairly well established herbal medicine sector. Medicinal plants engage an important position in the socio-cultural, spiritual and health aspects of Iranian rural population. The country has a vast variety of flora, and the Government is placing emphasis on the development of pharmaceuticals through herbal compounds. Many research contributions have shown that medicinal plants may be successfully cultivated, and processing has a great potential in many Iranian regions. Therefore it became imperative to find out the optimum techniques to exploit their yield potential for recommendations to the farmers. Chamomile is one of the important herbal medicines as it is used for the treatment of many diseases. Origin of Chamomile plant species is determined in the Frontal Asia Gene Pool Centre, mainly in this country. This study presents the results of qualitative-quantitative analyses of essential oil from chamomile originated from various parts of Iran. The Zagros Mount...