Endemic Plants in Turkey and Their Significance

Endemic Plants of Turkey and Their Importance The term endemic species is defined as plants found in a specific country or region, local and rare in distribution. It derives from the Latin word endemos, meaning "native." While Europe as a whole contains 12,000 plant species, of which 2,750 are endemic, Turkey has 9,000 varieties, of which 3,000 are endemic. These plants are used in the pharmaceutical, food, perfume and cosmetics industries. According to data on the website of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Turkey possesses a plant diversity rarely encountered in the world due to its position as a natural bridge between three continents, its geographic characteristics and the climatic features resulting from geographic variation. On the other hand, Turkey, located at the intersection of the Mediterranean Flora Zone (Mediterranean and Aegean regions), the Euro-Siberian Flora Zone (Black Sea and Marmara regions) and the Iran-Turan Flora Zone (Central and Eastern Anatolia regions), served as a refuge for plant seeds during glacial periods.

Distribution of endemic plants in Turkey by region

• Mediterranean Region 82 • Aegean Region 11 • Eastern Anatolia Region 1 • Marmara Region 102 • Central Anatolia Region 335 • Southeast Anatolia Region 102 • Black Sea Region 2 Our country is very rich in endemic sage, thyme and mint species. Many of our provinces have more than one endemic sage species. For example: Salvia Cilicica (Cilician sage) in Adana, Salvia Pisidica (Pisidian sage) in Afyon, Salvia Smyrnaea (Izmir sage) in Aydın and Izmir, Salvia Euphratica (Euphrates sage) in Malatya, Salvia Yosgadensis (Yozgat sage) in Yozgat and other interestingly named sage species. Turkey is also rich in endemic thyme species. Although the thyme family contains many aromatic plant species, those containing carvacrol and thymol as volatile oils are specifically recognized as "thyme." These species are of significant economic importance. There are approximately 50 known thyme species in the world. Turkey has approximately 35 species. Examples include: Origanum Amanum (Amanos thyme) in Adana, Origanum Sipyleum (Spil thyme) in Afyon, Origanum Munzurensis (Munzur thyme) in Tunceli.

Mint is an aromatic plant from the Labiatae family. Due to the essential oils it contains, mint holds great importance in the medicinal plants category. The part of the plant that is utilized is the leaves, which contain essential oils in high quantities.

A common characteristic of essential oils is that they are generally liquid at room temperature. These oils are also volatile and leave no residue when they evaporate. Generally they have high refractive indices and good solubility in lipophilic solvents.

Petroleum ether, chloroform, benzene, ether and ethanol are good solvents for these types of plants. Volatile oils are generally colorless or light yellow, though they may rarely occur in colors such as brown, green and blue.

When we examine the chemical structure of essential oils, we see that terpenes are more predominant. Oxygenated derivatives formed through oxidation of terpenes create the essential oil's characteristic odor, taste and therapeutic properties. In Turkey, rose oil comprises a large part of volatile oil production. Turkey is the world's largest producer of rose oil. Rose oil obtained from the Rosa Damascena Mill plant produced in Burdur, Afyon and Denizli is known in world markets as Turkish Rose Oil. The most significant cost in rose oil production is the price of rose petals, accounting for approximately 75-80%. Approximately 3,500 kg of rose petals are processed to obtain 1 kg of rose oil. Turkey produces approximately 1.5 tons of rose oil and 7 tons of concrete annually. Rose oil contains mainly citronellol, geraniol, nerol and other terpenic alcohols, as well as paraffin hydrocarbons such as nonadecane, nonadecene, tricosane and eicosane. Essential oils obtained from aromatic plants play an important role in the fragrance industry. Essential oils are extracted using several different methods. The principal methods are Supercritical CO2 extraction, Steam Distillation, and Microwave Extraction. In supercritical liquid extraction, the density of the solvent used is altered by manipulating temperature and pressure values, thereby increasing its dissolving power. At the applied temperature and pressure, the supercritical liquid converts to a plasma form, allowing it to easily penetrate the solid matrix and exhibit dissolving effect.

Dissolving power increases as the density of the fluid increases. By reducing pressure, the fluid is easily separated from the dissolved components. The operating temperature is lower than other conventional methods, and the objective is to obtain heat-sensitive organic compounds without degradation.

Steam distillation is a traditional method widely used in obtaining volatile compounds. In small-scale production, the distillation process is carried out using Clevenger-type apparatus, while in industrial applications it is performed in large distillation vessels (stills). The principle of the method is based on boiling water and plant material in a glass balloon or still connected to a condenser for 2-8 hours. Oil molecules moving along with the steam are condensed in the condenser and separated from water. The amount of volatile oil obtained is expressed volumetrically. Extraction using microwave is performed using two different systems. The most common system is closed-system extraction carried out in a sealed vessel with controlled temperature and pressure. The other method is performed in an open vessel under atmospheric pressure. The advantage of this method is that the extraction time and the amount of solvent used are significantly reduced. By microwave extraction method, polyphenols and lignans in plants can be separated. One of the projects of Parkim Perfum R&D Center is the extraction of essential oils from Turkey's endemic plants and their use in fragrance formulations. The chemists working in our Synthesis Laboratory extract essential oils from endemic aromatic plants using the steam distillation method, while our perfumers develop fragrance formulations suited to the olfactory properties of these oils.     The objective is to develop technical fragrances capable of imparting the pharmacological properties of the essential oils they contain to the product they are applied to; to make these fragrances available to both domestic producers, enabling the development of more competitive cosmetic products, and to export these fragrances to contribute to the country's economy, while also promoting our country's name on the international stage through scientific work.     Yesim Yıldırım - R&D Center Project Specialist / Parkim Group