Lavandula spp. (Lavender): A Herb More Than Just a Relaxing Scent

Lavendula , belongs to the family Lamiaceae, is perennial, sub-shrub or shrub in nature and contains 28 species. The distribution of this aromatic herb ranges from North temperate to tropical regions of old world. Generally, three species of lavender viz . L. officinalis Mill. (True Lavender), L. latifolia Medic (Spike Lavender) and L. hybrida Reverchan (Lavendin; L. officinalis x L. latifolia ) are in cultivation throughout the world especially in Europe ad Mediterranean region while out of these only first two are popularly cultivated in India. These three species are known for their outstanding potential for the extraction of essential oil (EO). Since time immemorial plant extracts including essential oils have utilized for therapeutic purpose and too evinced to have multitudinous biological activities, anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal activities. The EOs derived from lavender are rich in wide range of phytoconstituents (~100) which secured their position for aromatherapy. The major constituents of its EOs are caryophyllene (8%), linalool (20–35%), tannins (5–10%) and linalyl acetate (30–55%). The meagre quantity of esters, oxides, ketones, cineole, camphor, sesquiterpenoids, betaocimene, limonene, caproic acid, p-vinylguaiacol, methanecarboxylic acid, dimethylamin, cyclopropyl, N,N-dimethyl methanesulfonamide, cyclpropyl carbonyl-D-2-methyl ether, melitoti, herniarine, heptanoic acid, acetic acid, pentadecanhoic acid, propane chemicals are also evident in lavender EOs. 316 The percentage of phyto-chemicals are species dependent. Sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) markers are potent enough among other available molecular markers to study the genetic relatedness of lavender species at intra and inter-specific level.