satureja_hortensis

Satureja hortensis L. - Lamiaceae - summer savory, (Sommer-) Bohnenkraut, Kölle

Much-branched annual herb of the eastern Mediterranean region, 10-30cm high; leaves lanceolate; flowers axillary, small (4-6mm), white to pink.

„Summer savory is a characteristic ingredient of herbes de Provence… preferred over winter savory for use in sausages because of its sweeter, more delicate aroma. It plays an important role in Bulgarian cuisine, providing a strong and pungent flavor to the most simple and the most extravagant of dishes.“ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_savory

Steam distillation of the leaves give 0.3-1.5% of an essential oil with main constituents carvacrol, thymol, p-cymene and γ-terpinene. There are several chemotypes.

carvacrol

thymol

cymene

γ-terpinene

„The essential oil of cultivated summer savory (Satureja hortensis L. cv. Saturn) was analyzed by GC and GC/MS. More than twenty-five components were identified with the major ones being γ-terpinene (40.9%) and carvacrol (39.3%).“
[Chemical composition of the essential oil of cultivated summer savory (Satureja hortensis L. cv. Saturn). Góra, Józef, Anna Lis, and Andrzej Lewandowski. Journal of Essential Oil Research, Vol.8 (4), 1996, 427-428]

„The essential oils from 20 samples of wild and cultivated collections of Satureja hortensis L. were investigated by GC and GC/MS. The oils from cultivated forms contained carvacrol (42-63%) as the major constituent. Thymol (29-43%) was the main component in the wild forms of S. hortensis.“
[A Comparative Study of the Essential Oils of Wild and Cultivated Satureja hortensis L. Baser, K. H. C., et al., Journal of essential oil Research, Vol.16 (5), 2004, 422-424]

Sturm,J., Krause,E.H.L., Lutz,K.G., Flora von Deutschland in Abbildungen nach der Natur, Zweite Auflage, vol.11 t.51 (1903)
http://plantgenera.org/species.php?id_species=909057