Analysis of Carotenoids, Flavonoids and Essential Oil of Calendula officinalis Cultivars Growing in Estonia.

Pot Marigold (Calendula officinalis L.) is an annual ornamental plant with yellow to orange flowers which belongs the the Asteraceae family, its flowers are- used in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food industries. The commercial samples of seeds (n=24) of C. officinalis were cultivated in home gardens in Estonia. Total carotenoid contents, determined spectrophotometrically (X=455 nm) in the inflorescences, varied from 0.7 to 2.7%, the cultivar with the highest carotenoid content was 'Dracon'. The total content of flavonoids, determined spectrophotometrically (?=370 nm), varied from 0.8% to 1.7%. The best cultivar contained almost maximum amount of total carotenoids (2.5%) and flavonoids (1.7%) was 'Radio". The oil yields of eight cultivars of C. officinalis obtained were from 0.10 to 0.43%, the highest yield (0.43%) of the oil was obtained from the cultivar 'Double Ball'. A total 70 compounds were identified and analysed by GC-MS in the essential oil of C. officinalis, representing over 95% from total oil. The major components of the oils (>5%) of C. officinalis cultivars were a- cadinole (18.4-32.0%), y-cadinene (9.7-18.9%), viridiflorol (2.0-10.0%), t-cadinole (4.7-7.9%), 8-cadinole (3.3-5.6%), and y-muurolene (0.8-5.1%). There is no clear relation between the colour of the inflorescences of C. officinalis and the total content of flavonoids and carotenoids. The chemotypes of essential oils of C. officinalis were not found among the cultivars studied.