Correlation among environmental factors, chemical composition and antioxidative properties of essential oil and extracts of chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.) collected in Molise (South-central Italy).

German chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.) is found growing wild in many countries, but the amount of drug required due to its both medicinal and industrial importance is produced also by large-scale cultivation. Environment variability always affects the crop yield; for reproducible drug quality, appropriate knowledge of the influence of environmental conditions seems to be necessary. We studied the effect of environment on crop yield and on the chemical composition of the essential oils of different chamomile samples, which were cultivated at thirteen experimental sites in South-central Italy (Molise) in different growing environments. GC-MS analysis of the essential oils revealed the presence of cis-tonghaosu, spathulenol, alpha-bisabolol oxide B and alpha-bisabolol oxide A as main compounds in all the samples but their percentages in each plant were greatly different. Antioxidant activities of the essential oils and methanol extracts were also evaluated by DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazy) radical scavenging activity and ferric reducing ability (FRAP) assay, along with the phenolic and flavonoid contents of the polar extracts. Our study demonstrates that the crop performance was greatly influenced by the pedo-climatic conditions, and particularly altitude and fertility of the environment and the crop management (water supply) increased chamomile crop yield. The results of this study provide new knowledge to produce chamomile flowers of adequate quality.