Morphological features of the plant Pyrethrum majus (Desf.) Tzvel. and variability of the component composition of essential oil during introduction in the North-East of the European part of Russia

The paper presents the results of the research on the growth, development, and biochemical evaluation of introduced Pyrethrum majus plants in the middle taiga subzone of the Komi Republic. It is established that in the conditions of culture the species is characterized by a high stability and winter hardiness. The phenology and dynamics of plant growth were studied. Morphological parameters of vegetative and generative shoots were determined. The yield of essential oil from the aboveground phytomass of P. majus and its component composition were studied. It was found that the content of essential oil of flowering plants varied over the years of research from 0,25 to 1,41% and depended on the weather conditions of the growing season. More than 190 components were found in the essential oil of P. majus plants using the method of GLC analysis, 48 of them were identified. The main terpenoids in the essential oil were S-(+) carvone (54–65%), α-tuyon (6–10%), TRANS-and CIS-p-Menta-2,8-dienols (2,3–2,8%), 1,8-Cineol (1,4–2,9%), CIS – Menta-1(7)8-Dien-2ol (1,5–2,1%), germacrene d (1,2–1,8%) α-cadinol (0,5–1,5%), γ-muurolol (0,2–2,6%). It was found that the component composition of the essential oil from perennial plants P. majus corresponds to the carvone-Tuyon chemotype and did not change significantly due to the meteorological conditions of the environment. Taking into account a high adaptation of plants of this species to the conditions of the middle taiga subzone of the Komi Republic, high indicators of aboveground phytomass with a sufficient content of essential oil, P. majus can be successfully cultivated in the North as a promising spicy-aromatic medicinal and ornamental plant.