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The main objective of this work was to study the essential oil composition of ripe Juniperus oxycedrus L. berries and its natural variation among wild populations in Kosovo. Essential oil was analysed using GC-FID and GC-MS. Plant materials were collected from five locations in Kosovo in August and September of 2011. In total, twenty-seven compounds were identified in the essential oils. The main components were @b-myrcene (45.5-56.9%), @a-pinene (10.2-36.6%), dl-limonene (3.6-13.8%) and germacrene D (1.7-8.7%). Of the total identified compounds, monoterpenes constituted the highest percentage of all components (70.24-88.22%), followed by oxygenated sesquiterpenes (4.9-11.4%), sesquiterpenes (3.5-11.0%), oxygenated monoterpenes (0.2-2.7%) and oxygenated diterpenes (0.0-1.7). Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) and Principal Component Analyses (PCA) were used to identify any geographical variations in essential oil composition. Statistical analysis suggests that the clustering of populations is not related to their geographic location, but rather seemed to be linked to local selective forces acting on chemotype diversity.
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