Food Measure DOI 10.1007/s11694-017-9522-5 ORIGINAL PAPER Aroma constituents of shade-dried aerial parts of Iranian dill (Anethum graveolens L.) and savory (Satureja sahendica Bornm.) by solvent-assisted lavor evaporation technique Asghar Amanpour1 · Hasim Kelebek2 · Serkan Selli1,3 Received: 23 June 2016 / Accepted: 3 April 2017 © Springer Science+Business Media New York 2017 Abstract The aroma proile of shade-dried aerial part from Iranian dill (Anethum graveolens L.) and Savory (Satureja sahendica Bornm.) plants was analyzed by the gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and gas chromatography–lame ionization detector (GC–FID). For the irst time in these aromatic plants, the solventassisted lavour evaporation (SAFE) extraction method with dichloromethane was used prior to GC–MS. A total of 40 and 26 aroma compounds was identiied in dill and savory. Dill contained 271.52 µg/g total amount of aroma compounds, which included terpenes (28), aldehydes (3), alcohol (1), acids (3), volatile phenols (3), ketone (1) and norisoprenoid (1). Savory possessed 10,547.16 µg/g total amount of aroma compounds, including terpenes (20), alcohol (1) and volatile phenols (5). Of all aroma compounds detected in both plants, terpenes were quantitatively the most dominant aroma volatiles. In the overall aroma volatiles, α-phellandrene (160.0 µg/g) together with sabinene (26.5 µg/g), D-carvone (16.2 µg/g), DL-limonene (12.3 µg/g) and dill ether (7.8 µg/g) in dill and γ-terpinene (6236.83 µg/g) along with carvacrol (3239.19 µg/g), α-pinene (267.08 µg/g), α-thujene (219.36 µg/g) and β-bisabolene (130.8 µg/g) in savory were the major compounds. * Serkan Selli sselli@cu.edu.tr 1 Department of Biotechnology, Institute of Natural and Applied Sciences, Cukurova University, 01330 Adana, Turkey 2 Department of Food Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Adana Science and Technology University, 01110 Adana, Turkey 3 Department of Food Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Cukurova University, 01330 Adana, Turkey Keywords Aroma proile · SAFE technique · GC-MS · Dill (Anethum graveolens L.) · Savory (Satureja sahendica Bornm.) Introduction Dill (Anethum graveolens L.) is a yearly herb of the Apiaceae family found particularly in regions with warm and tropical climates [1]. Leaves, stems, and fruits of dill are excessively used in diferent applications of the food industry, especially for their typical taste as well as pleasant and spicy aroma [2], and also for the medical use [1]. It is an important condiment crop from which both herb and seed have been extensively used in all kinds of lavouring including those for baking mixes, sauces, salads, and seafoods [3]. Additionally, the experimental studies demonstrated the antimicrobial, stomachic, antioxidant, carminative, insecticidal properties, and cardiovascular beneits of dill [4]. Savory (Satureja L.) is included in the main taxa of the Lamiaceae (Nepetoideae) family involving more than 200 species of aromatic herbs and shrubs, basically distributed in the Asian and Mediterranean zones [5, 6]. Fourteen species are presented in the lora of Iran, in the northern, northwestern, and western districts. Eight of them comprising Satureja edmondii, Satureja intermedia, Satureja isophylla, Satureja kallarica, Satureja bakhtiarica, Satureja khusstanica and Satureja sahendica are vernacular to Iran [5, 6]. The genus S. sahendica in Persian is known as “Marze” and “Marze-Sahandi,” respectively [6]. Satureja sahendica Bornm. is a habitual, ramiied, and rich aromatic herb growing in the western and northwestern areas, particularly in the Sahand Mountains in the northwest of Iran [6]. The volatile oils of the genus Satureja is isolated from 13 Vol.:(0123456789) A. Amanpour et al. their aerial parts possess aromatic and medicinal features [5, 6]. The fresh and dried leaves and vegetative parts of stems have been consumed in many culinary aspects such as stuings, stews, dishes containing meat and poultry, sausages, and greengroceries [7]. Furthermore, the aerial sections of some Satureja species have been used in the folk medicine for curing diarrhea, inlammation of the stomach and intestines, wounds, urinary infections [5], and asthma [6] and as antimicrobial, tonic, antiseptic, latulent, digestive, diuretic, carminative, and aphrodisiac drugs [6]. Additionally, biological activities entailing antioxidant, antifungal, antibacterial, antidiabetic and anti-inlammatory functions were also evidenced in savory [5]. Aroma is a complicated structure of a big number of low molecular weight volatile compounds whose combination is characteristic to species and often to the variety of plants [7]. These two diferent plant varieties, dill and savory, are extensively used in the daily diet of the Iranian general population as lavouring agents and spices to improve the lavour of food. Both of them are aromatic and have their own peculiar lavour with multiple volatile compounds in their leaves. Most spices are commonly sold dried because of high water content in the fresh states which leads to intensive deterioration caused by microbial growth and biochemical reactions. Drying processes stabilizes spices microbiologically by reducing the water activity (aw) values under the threshold for microbial development (0.6) [8]. Some volatile compounds vaporize during air-drying, whereas others are somewhat retained, and some oxidation products appear during drying. When spices are used as marinades or as seasoning for foods, the dried vegetal crop is added directly. The volatile oil composition of both dill and savory has been widely studied [2, 3, 6, 7, 9–16]. The most abundant volatiles determined in dill are terpene compounds [17]. Three main compounds, carvone, α-phellandrene, and limonene, have been detected in dill aroma, but their amounts varied extensively [9]. Within these, α-phellandrene, the main compound of dill aroma greatly contributes to the sensory impression of dill herb [18]. In the case of savory, previous studies in various Satureja species indicated the big disagreement among both chemical compositions and their essential oils content. For instance, the main compounds of the genus Satureja were carvacrol (40.8%) and γ-terpinene (26.4%) in Satureja boissieri oil from Turkey; pulegone (64.3%) and menthone (20.2%) in Satureja brownei oil from Venezuela; piperitone oxide in Satureja parvifolia oil from Argentina; γ-terpinene, β-caryophyllene and germacrene D in Satureja boliviana oil and menthone and 13 isomenthone in Satureja brevicalix oil from Peru; neral, geranial and farnesene in Satureja punctate, thymol and carvacrol in Satureja cuneifolia oil, Germacrene D in Satureja coerulea oil from Turkey; carvacrol and γ-terpinene in Satureja hortensis oil and γ-terpinene (42.2%) and carvacrol (31.9%) in S. sahendica Bornm. oil from Iran [6, 12]. Volatiles are dependent on many factors, such as plant part, time of harvest, harvested plant part, extraction method, type of cultivar or genotype, geographic origin, storage conditions, and climate [19]. Drying is an efective method that prolongs the shelf life of the product by slowing the growth of microorganisms and preventing biochemical reactions that may impact sensory attributes [20]. There are very few surveys found on the isolation of volatile compounds directly from spices. Concerning the European Pharmacopoeia [21], volatile oils are extracts separated from aromatic plants only by distillation procedures such as hydrodistillation. Further extracts obtained from aromatic plants by other techniques, even entailing volatile compounds, should not be considered as volatile oils [14]. Hydrodistillation (Clevenger and/or steam distillation apparatus) and organic solvent extraction (Soxhlet extractor) have both been extensively applied for the separation of volatile oils from spices as the conventional methods. Nevertheless, these two extraction methods both tend to degrade the original spice lavour and lose volatile compounds owing to the high temperatures used. In other words, most of the lavour compounds in spices are consisted in their volatile oils and are changed or damaged upon heating or air oxidation [22]. Moreover, new lavours can be progressed from non-volatile precursors by Maillard reaction, carotenoid degradation, and lipid oxidation [23]. These limitations may be overcome using appropriate and novel extraction techniques. Thus, the appropriate extraction technique must be selected with the aim of producing aromatic extracts with odour as close as possible to that of the studied sample. Under these circumstances, present research reports the results of shade-dried aerial parts of dill (A. graveolens L.) and savory (S. sahendica Bornm.) aroma proile collected from the city of Tabriz in East Azerbaijan Province, Iran. In this investigation, the solvent-assisted lavour extraction (SAFE) method was chosen as the aroma extraction method. Thanks to low pressure is used in this method, isolation of volatiles at low temperatures such as 40 °C can be achieved, which intercepts the formation of artifacts. It has already demonstrated its reliability for the extraction of volatile compounds in Iranian safron and golpar spices [24, 25], orange juice [26], and cofee [27]. Aroma constituents of shade-dried aerial parts of Iranian dill (Anethum graveolens L.) and… Gas chromatography (GC) coupled with lame ionization detector (FID) and mass spectrometry (MS) has been applied in quantiication and identiication of the aroma compounds, respectively. Materials and methods Plant material The aerial parts of both dill (A. graveolens L.) and savory (S. sahendica Bornm.) were collected from Tabriz at the end of May and September in 2015. The collected materials were dried at room temperature away from sun light, packed into polyethylene bags, and kept at 4 °C for further use. Isolation of volatile compounds The isolation of volatiles was conducted in the dichloromethane being an eicacious solvent for the separation of volatiles in fruits and plants [28]. The volatiles exist in the Iranian dill and savory were isolated under vacuum (10−3 Pa; Vacuubrand DCP 3000, Wertheim, Germany) using the solvent-assisted lavour evaporation (SAFE) unit (Gläsblaserei Bahr, Manching, Germany). The isolation technique was altered from our earlier research [24]. Briely, a monotonic powder of shade-dried aerial sections of both samples was separately prepared by applying porcelain mortar at room temperature. Before extraction, 7 g of each powdered sample containing 100 mL of dichloromethane plus 5 µL of 2-octanol as an internal standard were placed into a 500-mL lask. The details of the extraction technique were entirely explained in our earlier research [24, 25]. Each sample was extracted in triplicate. The concentrations of volatiles were calculated according to internal standard. GC–FID and GC–MS analyses of volatile compounds An Agilent 6890 GC was equipped with a FID (Wilmington, DE, USA) and an Agilent 5973-network-mass selective detector (MSD). The helium as a carrier gas was used with 1.5 mL/min low rate. The oven start temperature was 50 °C (1 min), the following gradient was 5 °C/min, and then at a rate of 8 °C/min to 260 °C with a inal hold at 260 °C for 5 min (DB-WAX column). GC eluent was split 1:1 among the FID and MSD. A mass spectra in the electron ionization mode were recorded at 70 eV and a mass/charge range of 30–300 amu at 2.0 scan s−1 scan rate. The identiication of compounds was comprised of the following parameters: retention indices, commercial spectra database (Wiley 6 and NIST 98), an internal library created from our previous studies, and standard reference compounds. Sensory and statistical analysis of the dill and savory plants and their extracts Panel The panel consisted of nine assessors (three females and six males between 25 and 49 years of age) from the Biotechnology Laboratory at the Department of Food Engineering, University of Cukurova. The assessors were familiar with the dill and savory aroma and also formerly trained in the scent distinction and sensory assessment methods, and had the experiences in the GC–MS. Preparation and presentation of the samples Various ways could be applied to estimate the representativeness of the aroma of odorous extracts belonging to this kind of study. In the current essay, a cardboard smelling strip (reference 7140 BPSI, Granger-Veyron, Lyas, France) was used to investigate the representativeness of the extracts acquired using the SAFE extraction technique. These cardboards have already evidenced positive outcomes for the representativeness test in the juice of orange [28] and Iranian safron spice [24]. As a reference, a 1 g of each powdered sample was inserted in a 25 mL brown coded lask. Odorous extracts of samples acquired using the SAFE technique were adsorbed onto the cardboard. The detailed procedure was given in our earlier investigation [24]. Descriptive analysis Two diferent lists separately for each plant such as nine descriptors composed of fresh, green, herbal, citrusy, minty, woody, dill, spicy and oily for dill and other nine descriptors consisted of fresh, green, herbal, citrusy, minty, woody, balsamic, loral and earthy for savory that describe their characteristic aroma were deined by the trained and expert panelists and subsequently applied to describe their extracts. More details are available in our previous study [24]. Statistical analysis The statistical method used for the sensorial data analysis was an independent-samples analysis of variance (t test) to compare the sensory proile of each extract obtained from the SAFE method with that of their original samples. All the data in this experiment are presented as the average of nine replicates. Statistical analysis was 13 A. Amanpour et al. performed using SPSS statistics software version 22.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, Illinois, USA). Results and discussion Sensory analysis Odor sensory proiles The aromatic extracts of both plants isolated by the SAFE technique were compared to the reference samples, dill and savory plants, by the nine panelists. From the panelist group point of view, the outcomes of the similarity and intensity evaluation of the odorous isolation evidenced an extract representing the characteristic aroma of the plants, when a droplet of the aroma extract was vaporized on a strip of smelling paper. Figures 1 and 2 displays the two diferent principal intensity groupings of the both original samples and their extracts depicted on a spider graph applying nine descriptors. Each rating was separately applied by the panelists to depict the characteristic odor of the shade-dried aerial parts of the dill and savory plants and their extracts. To the best of our knowledge, the descriptive analysis of these both samples were used for the irst time to depict their characteristic odour. As can be demonstrated in Figs. 1 and 2, it appears that the sensory proile of each extract obtained from the SAFE method is analogous to that of their original samples. No variations were statistically detected between the aromatic extract using the SAFE isolation technique and original sample for the nine descriptors in both samples (p < 0.01). Of descriptors in the Fig. 1 Odour sensory features of the dill plant and its extract 13 Fig. 2 Odour sensory features of the savory plant and its extract dill sample (Fig. 1), herbal, dill and spicy aroma descriptors had the largest scores and the rest of the descriptors with the lowest scores were proved. In the case of the savory sample (Fig. 2), fresh, herbal, minty and loral odor descriptors with the highest scores and green, citrusy, woody, balsamic and earthy notes with the lowest scores were evidenced. Aroma compositions of dill and savory The volatile compounds identiied in the shade-dried aerial parts of the dill and savory plants and linear retention index values on the DB-Wax column for these compounds were presented in Table 1. Mean values (µg/g) of the GC analyses of triplicate extractions and standard deviations were reported. A total of 40 and 26 compounds were identiied and quantiied in the dill and savory (Fig. 3), most of which have already been identiied by previous studies in both different countries and diverse parts of dill and savory plant’ volatile oil [2, 3, 6, 7, 9–16]. Dill contained 271.52 µg/g of the total amount of volatile compounds, which included terpenes (28), aldehydes (3), alcohol (1), acids (3), volatile phenol (3), ketone (1) and norisoprenoid (1). Of all volatile compounds detected in the dill, terpenes were quantiied as the most prevailing volatile compounds, followed by the acids (isovaleric, hexanoic and octanoic acid), aldehydes (nonanal, benzaldehyde and anisaldehyde), volatile phenols (isoanethole, anethol and isoeugenol), an alcohol (benzyl alcohol), a ketone (bornyl acetate) and a norisoprenoid (β-ionone epoxide). Savory contained 10,547.16 µg/g of the total concentration of volatile compounds, comprising the terpenes (20), an alcohol (1) and Aroma constituents of shade-dried aerial parts of Iranian dill (Anethum graveolens L.) and… Table 1 Aroma compounds of the shade-dried aerial parts of the Iranian dill (A. graveolens L.) and savory (S. sahendica Bornm.) using the SAFE technique No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 Volatile compounds α-Pinene α-Thujene β-Pinene (+)-2-Carene (+)-4-Carene α-Phellandrene α-Terpinene DL-Limonene Sabinene γ-Terpinene (E)-β-Ocimene α-Terpinolene Nonanal α-Ocimene 1-Octen-3-ol (E)-Sabinene hydrate (Z)-Sabinene hydrate L-Menthone Benzaldehyde Dill ether α-Copaene Isopulegone Bornyl acetate Dihydrocarvone Calarene 1-Terpineol 4-Terpineol Methylcarvacrol (E)-Caryophyllene Aromadendrene α-Caryophyllene Pulegone Isoborneol Isovaleric acid Isoanethole Carvotanacetone δ-Elemene α-Terpineol β-Bisabolene D-Carvone β-Cubebene β-sesquiphellandrene (Z)-γ-Bisabolene α-Curcumene Anethol Hexanoic acid Benzyl alcohol Carvacrol acetate β-Ionone epoxide LRIa 1012 1017 1100 1110 1128 1167 1178 1186 1231 1246 1279 1284 1388 1404 1445 1460 1466 1474 1516 1521 1526 1540 1544 1549 1554 1575 1579 1590 1596 1627 1632 1644 1664 1665 1670 1683 1688 1691 1720 1726 1761 1762 1767 1773 1833 1840 1870 1880 1957 Concentrationb (mean ± SD) Dill Savory 4.49 ± 0.62 nd 0.66 ± 0.04 nd nd 160.0 ± 5.24 1.24 ± 0.01 12.3 ± 1.56 26.5 ± 3.24 1.69 ± 0.06 0.26 ± 0.03 0.72 ± 0.06 0.30 ± 0.05 nd nd 0.82 ± 0.14 nd 2.62 ± 1.92 0.40 ± 0.05 7.80 ± 0.35 0.70 ± 0.38 0.30 ± 0.04 0.44 ± 0.08 1.03 ± 0.14 1.82 ± 0.91 0.43 ± 0.06 nd nd nd nd nd 6.67 ± 0.56 nd 1.62 ± 0.61 2.06 ± 0.14 0.45 ± 0.16 1.00 ± 0.30 nd nd 16.2 ± 2.21 1.19 ± 1.26 nd nd 0.60 ± 0.11 0.17 ± 0.01 3.22 ± 0.90 0.49 ± 0.14 nd 3.82 ± 1.32 267.08 ± 0.08 219.36 ± 0.95 82.34 ± 0.32 82.04 ± 1.6 22.85 ± 0.48 nd nd nd nd 6236.83 ± 2.5 nd 10.34 ± 0.52 nd 1.06 ± 0.69 9.72 ± 1.27 17.89 ± 1.29 23.1 ± 1.69 nd nd nd nd nd nd nd nd nd 7.54 ± 0.51 11.07 ± 0.3 98.4 ± 1.48 22.57 ± 0.3 5.75 ± 0.48 nd 10.7 ± 0.32 nd nd nd nd 12.8 ± 1.47 130.8 ± 1.93 nd nd 1.55 ± 0.12 5 ± 0.04 nd nd nd nd 3.47 ± 0.67 nd Identiicationc LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, tent LRI, MS, tent LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, tent LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, tent LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, tent LRI, MS, tent LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, tent LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, tent LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, tent LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, tent LRI, MS, tent LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, tent LRI, MS, tent LRI, MS, tent LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, tent 13 A. Amanpour et al. Table 1 (continued) No. 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 Volatile compounds Anisaldehyde ρ-cresol Octanoic acid Eugenol Isoeugenol Thymol Carvacrol ρ-Cumenol Myristicin Dill apiole TOTAL LRIa 2023 2078 2083 2169 2180 2188 2206 2211 2216 2226 Concentrationb (mean ± SD) Dill Savory 0.16 ± 0.05 nd 0.40 ± 0.12 nd 0.18 ± 0.19 0.48 ± 0.18 0.45 ± 0.16 0.94 ± 0.84 0.43 ± 0.23 6.66 ± 2.77 271.52 nd 0.26 ± 0.08 nd 0.25 ± 0.16 nd 25.2 ± 0.3 3239.19 ± 1.44 nd nd nd 10547.16 Identiicationc LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, Std LRI, MS, tent LRI, MS, tent a LRI—Retention indices on DB-WAX column b Concentration—Mean values based on three repetitions as µg/g; nd not determined c Identiication: Methods of identiication; LRI linear retention index, MS tent. tentatively identiied by MS, Std chemical standard; When only MS or LRI is available for the identiication of a compounds, it must be considered as an attempt of identiication Fig. 3 The gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS) chromatograms of Dill and Savory (peak numbers refer to aroma compounds represented in Table 1) 13 Aroma constituents of shade-dried aerial parts of Iranian dill (Anethum graveolens L.) and… volatile phenols (5). The most prevailing volatile compounds in savory extracts were terpenes, followed by volatile phenols (methylcarvacrol, carvacrol acetate, ρ-cresol, eugenol and thymol) and an alcohol (1-octen-3-ol). Aromatic plants are mostly used in the folk medicine, and volatile oils and volatile compounds isolated from them are extensively used as the antioxidants and anti-inlammatory agents. Several anti-inlammatory, digestive, antinecrotic, neuroprotective, and hepatoprotective drugs have recently been demonstrated to possess an antioxidant and/or radicalscavenging mechanism as a section of their activity [29]. In the overall aromatic compounds of the dill in this study, the α-phellandrene (160.0 µg/g) is the major compound together with the sabinene (26.5 µg/g), D-carvone (16.2 µg/g), DL-limonene (12.3 µg/g), dill ether (7.80 µg/g), pulegone (6.67 µg/g), dill apiole (6.66 µg/g), α-pinene (4.49 µg/g), β-ionone epoxide (3.82 µg/g) and hexanoic acid (3.22 µg/g). In general, the α-phellandrene, D-carvone and DL-limonene are impact compounds of many essential dill oils and are responsible especially for the aroma and biological efects [10]. The most abundant volatiles determined in the dill are terpenes [17]. α-Phellandrene, the main compound of dill aroma greatly contributes to the sensory impression of the dill herb [18]. In our research, terpenes were also quantitatively (258.4 µg/g) the leading volatile compounds in the dill, representing 95.2% of the total volatile proile analyzed. The amount of the α-phellandrene (58.93%) shown in Table 1 is much higher than that reported in the Iranian dill essential oil (19.1%) [30]. Of all aroma compounds discovered in the savory, the γ-terpinene (6236.83 µg/g) is the major compound along with the carvacrol (3239.19 µg/g), α-pinene (267.08 µg/g), α-thujene (219.36 µg/g) and β-bisabolene (130.8 µg/g). In an earlier study, the investigated S. sahendica Bornm volatile oil using the hydrodistillation extraction method was detected to be rich in terpenes with substantial contents of the γ-terpinene and carvacrol, and they contained approximately 77% of the determined compounds and were the most predominant compounds of the oil [6]. γ-Terpinene as a volatile oil indicates antimicrobial characters against diferent human pathogens [31]. The antioxidant, anti-inlammatory, and anti-proliferative activities of γ-terpinene is also investigated [32]. There are diverse agents that can afect the volatile compounds during the drying process; for instance, the temperature reached, the interaction among volatiles and water vapor, and the hydrophobic nature of volatiles [33]. Terpenes Terpenes quantitatively represent the main class of aroma compounds in both tested samples, accounting for 95.18 and 68.8% of the total aroma compounds determined in the dill and savory. Plenty of the terpene compounds are direct products of terpene synthases, while others are formed through changes of the primary terpene skeletons made by terpene synthases by the hydroxylation, dehydrogenation, acylation, and other reactions [34]. α-Pinene together with the β-pinene, α-phellandrene, α-terpinene, DL-limonene, sabinene, γ-terpinene, (E)-βocimene, α-terpinolene, L-menthone, (E)-sabinene hydrate, dill ether, α-copaene, isopulegone, dihydrocarvone, calarene, 1-terpineol, pulegone, carvotanacetone, δ-elemene, D-carvone, β-cubebene, α-curcumene, thymol, carvacrol, ρ-cumenol, myristicin and dill apiole were determined in the dill sample. Most of these terpenes were identiied in the dill from diferent countries in previous studies [1, 3, 9, 35, 36]. Among the higher terpenes, α-phellandrene (160 µg/g) was detected as the highest proportion in the dill aromatic extract, followed by the sabinene (26.5 µg/g), D-carvone (16.2 µg/g), DL-limonene (12.3 µg/g), and dill ether (7.8 µg/g). α-Phellandrene also was the main compound of all the three studied fresh dill cultivars (Dura, Dukat and Mammut) grown at Sahalahti of Finland in 1983 and 1984 using a modiied Soxhlet technique [35] and dill leaves from Latvia using the solid phase micro-extraction technique [1]. The proportion of α-phellandrene (58.93%) was approximately at the identical concentration level (57.10%) as detected earlier in microwave vacuum dried dill stems [1], and much higher than the proportions of 19.12 and 14.68% revealed in aerial parts using the hydrodistillation [30] and fresh leaves by the ultrasound-assisted extraction [36]. The relative extent of the α-phellandrene from the total aroma content in the three diferent cultivars of the dill, Dura, Dukat and Mammut, grown at two diverse regions in Finland, Sahalahti and Viikki, was comparatively constant between 40–60% and 30–50%, respectively [35]. α-Phellandrene gives a typical dill lavor and also fragrant and fresh notes [3]. As can be indicated in Fig. 1, the dill aroma descriptor was also distinguished in the highest score by the panel. Fresh dill aroma is composed of synergistic communication contributed mainly by α-phellandrene with an altering eicacy from dill ether [1]. Three fundamental compounds, carvone, α-phellandrene, and limonene, have been ascertained in the dill aroma, but their contents differed extensively, belonging to the diverse agents such as the geographical origin, ripening degree and growth situations. Additionally, the extraction technique could also inluence the volatile oil amount and composition [35]. Dill seed oil is distinguished by a high extent of carvone and limonene [2–6], while the aerial part oil of the herb consists, in addition to carvone and limonene, remarkable values of α-phellandrene [9, 35]. Carvone reveals caraway-like and cooling notes in the dill herb volatile oil [3]. According 13 A. Amanpour et al. to the geographical origin, the content of carvone in the herb volatile oil has been evidenced to difer from 6 to 44%, while its content in the dill seed volatile oil is more constant at 40–55% [9]. The amount of the limonene as another important terpene compound in dill leaves is more than in its stems and it liberates lemon and mint aroma [1]. α-Pinene along with the α-thujene, β-pinene, (+)-2-carene, (+)-4-carene, γ-terpinene, α-terpinolene, α-ocimene, 1-octen-3-ol, (E)-sabinene hydrate, (Z)-sabinene hydrate, 4-terpineol, methylcarvacrol, (E)-caryophyllene, aromadendrene, α-caryophyllene, α-terpineol, isoborneol, β-bisabolene, β-sesquiphellandrene, (Z)-γbisabolene, carvacrol acetate, ρ-cresol, eugenol, thymol and carvacrol were detected in the savory as terpene compounds. Most of these were discovered in the savory from various countries and species in earlier investigations [6, 7, 11–16]. Generally, volatile oils have mainly a cytotoxic activity because of the presence of thymol, carvacrol, α-pinene and ρ-cymene compounds [36]. γ-Terpinene (6236.83 µg/g) (59.13%) as indicated in Table 1 was the most abundant compound in savory samples followed by carvacrol (3239.19 µg/g) (30.71%), α-pinene (267.08 µg/g) (2.53%), α-thujene (219.36 µg/g) (2.08%) and β-bisabolene (130.8 µg/g) (1.24%). The identical results were approximately evidenced in an earlier research on air-dried aerial parts of savory from the Maragheh region in the Northwest Iran using the hydro distillation technique. Particularly, γ-terpinene (42.2%) and carvacrol (31.9%) consisted of approximately 77% of the distinguished compounds and were the most prevailing compounds of the volatile oil [6]. Disagreements among chemical combinations and amounts of various Satureja species volatile oils were also indicated concerning the literature review. Carvacrol (40.8%) and γ-terpinene (26.4%) in S. boissieri volatile oil from Turkey; pulegone (64.3%) and menthone (20.2%) in S. brownie from Venezuela; γ-terpinene, β-caryophyllene and germacrene D in S. boliviana and piperitone oxide in S. parvifolia from Argentina; germacrene D in S. coerulea from Turkey and carvacrol and γ-terpinene in S. hortensis from Iran were characterized as conquering compounds [7]. Considering the isolation technique in the volatile oil of S. sahendica, thymol (37.2%), ρ-cymene (32.6%) and γ-terpinene (11.5%) via the hydrodistillation technique and the similar compounds, but with various contents, thymol (66.0%), ρ-cymene (20.3%) and γ-terpinene (3.6%) by steam distillation technique were detected as the main compounds [11]. Additionally, α-pinene, β-pinene, α-thujene and β-myrcene in the steam distilled volatile oil was not observed [11]. In another study on Satureja hortensis volatile oil, the outcomes demonstrated that the hydrodistillation revealed the largest content of carvacrol (46.0%), while the steam distillation released the 13 lowest content of carvacrol (12.3%) and the highest content of γ-terpinene (70.4%) [13]. Carvacrol (52.2–62.0%), thymol (8.6–11.0%), ρ-cymene (6.9–12.8%), γ-terpinene (6.4–9.4%) and β-bisabolene (2.0–2.7%) were the principal compounds in Satureja montana using hydrodistillation. Supercritical luid extraction volatile oil contains of the similar major compounds but with diverse contents as carvacrol (41.7–64.5%), thymol (6.0–11.3%), ρ-cymene (6.0–17.8%), γ-terpinene (2.3–6.0%) and β-bisabolene (2.2–3.5%) [16]. According to the diferent parts of S. sahendica volatile oil, thymol (31.5%), γ-terpinene (29.33%) and ρ-cymene (23.48%) in the cluster volatile oil and ρ-cymene (44.88%), thymol (28.22%) and γ-terpinene (10.07%) in the leaf and stem volatile oil were shown as the principal compounds [37]. On the basis of diferent localities, thymol (19.6–41.6%), ρ-cymene (32.5–54.9%) and γ-terpinene (1–12.8%) were the major compounds in S. sahendica volatile oil from eight localities [7]. Based on the drying method in S. hortensis volatile oil extracted by the hydrodistillation, carvacrol (46.0%), γ-terpinene (37.7%), ρ-cymene (4.2%) and α-terpinene (3.1%) in shade-dried aerial parts, carvacrol (46.8%), γ-terpinene (39.4%), ρ-cymene (4.4%) and α-terpinene (3.3%) in sun-dried aerial parts and carvacrol (48.1%), γ-terpinene (38.4%), ρ-cymene (3.5%) and α-terpinene (3.4%) in oven-dried aerial parts at 45 °C were the major compounds [13]. The main compounds of Satureja horvatii volatile oil in accordance with the growing regions were thymol (63.7%), γ-terpinene (7.5%), carvacrol methyl ether (4.9%), carvacrol (4.7%), and ρ-cymene (4.5%) in Orjenske Lokve, Mt. Orjen, carvacrol (68.1%), ρ-cymene (8.3%) and γ-terpinene (5.8%) in Mt. Lovcen [15]. γ-Terpinene with the oily, woody, terpene lemon/lime, tropical and herbal, and carvacrol with the spicy, woody, camphor and thymol aroma characters were proved in Satureja myrtifolia aerial parts from the Lebanon origin [38]. Conclusion The current investigation was allocated to deine the aroma compounds in the shade-dried aerial parts of the Iranian dill (A. graveolens L.) and savory (S. sahendica Bornm.) plants. Fourty and twenty six aroma volatiles, in total, were speciied in the dill and savory, respectively, using the GC–MS and GC–FID. The SAFE isolation technique gave highly representative aromatic extract in both analyzed samples. Dill with 271.52 µg/g aroma compounds consisted of the terpenes (28), aldehydes (3), an alcohol (1), acids (3), volatile phenols (3), a ketone (1) and norisoprenoid (1) and savory with 10547.16 µg/g aroma compounds composed of the terpenes (20), an alcohol (1) and volatile phenols (5). From all aroma compounds found in both samples, Aroma constituents of shade-dried aerial parts of Iranian dill (Anethum graveolens L.) and… terpenes were quantitatively the most prevailing. Within these compounds, α-phellandrene (160.0 µg/g) followed by sabinene (26.5 µg/g), D-carvone (16.2 µg/g), DL-limonene (12.3 µg/g) and dill ether (7.8 µg/g) in dill and γ-terpinene (6236.83 µg/g) followed by carvacrol (3239.19 µg/g), α-pinene (267.08 µg/g), α-thujene (219.36 µg/g) and β-bisabolene (130.8 µg/g) in savory were quantitatively demonstrated as the principal compounds. References 1. Z. Kruma, R. Galoburda, M. Sabovics, I. Gramatina, I. Skudra, I. 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