Principal Component and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis of major compounds variation of Moroccan Rosmarinus officinalis essential oil

The main compounds or the chemical composition in general is influenced by different factors such as the harvest period, the origin of the plant and the climatic conditions. The composition of Rosmarinus officinalis essential oils during 9 harvest periods (January 2018 to April 2019) was determined by and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The main constituents were 1,8-Cineole (33.33-52.59%), Camphor (7.07-20.09%), α-pinene (11.93-16.22%). Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) revealed two main groups namely First group “winter season” which contains a high amount of Camphor, Second group “summer season” which has a significant amount of 1,8-Cineole and an intermediate group “ which shares the same characterize of the two groups. In conclusion, these results allow us to understand the variation of major compounds according to the seasons for the exploitation of these compounds in different fields.