CHANGE IN ESSENTIAL OIL YIELD, CONTENT AND COMPOSITION OF CORIANDER (CORIANDRUM SARIVUM L.) VARIETIES, CULTIVATED FOR SEEDS

Coriander essential oil is widely utilized in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries due to its diverse applications.Extracted by steam distillation from dried Coriandrum sativum seeds, the clear or pale yellow oil has a distinctive, sweet, warm, and aromatic fragrance.In a three-year study, a field experiment was conducted in the land of the village of Voyvodinovo, where five coriander varieties (Yantar, Moroccan, Mesten Drebnoploden, Thringen, and Marino) were tested for essential oil yield, essential oil content and chemical composition.Over 46 components were identified in coriander essential oil, representing 98.5% to 99.7% of the total composition.The oil contained a diverse array of compounds, including monoterpenoids, aldehydes, alcohols, and monoterpenes.The -Linalool was the dominant component, with concentrations ranging from 60.3% to 71.4% across the tested cultivars.The Moroccan variety had the highest average linalool content (67.17%), while the Thringen variety exhibited the lowest (65.73%).Geranyl acetate varied from 0.975% to 4.68%, -pinene from 4.03% to 5.70%, and -terpinene from 5.81% to 8.42%.The fatty acid profile was analyzed, revealing the presence of myristic acid and palmitic acid.The Yantar variety exhibited the highest palmitic acid content (1.76%), followed by the Thringen variety (0.89%), while the Mesten Drebnoploden variety had the lowest.myristic acid levels ranged from 0.09% to 0.43% on average.The essential oil content of the tested coriander cultivars ranged from 0.20% to 0.74%.Among them, the Yantar cultivar exhibited the highest average oil content -0.62%.The greatest essential oil yield for the period 2020-2021 was recorded in the cultivar Mesten Drebnoploden -11.4 kg ha -1 , whereas the lowest yield was observed in the Marino variety -5.6 kg ha -1 .These findings underscore the variability in coriander essential oil and composition, indicating the relevance of choosing the right cultivar in enhancing essential oil production in Bulgaria.