RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BIOCHEMICAL INDICATORS AND PHENOTYPICAL FEATURES OF GARDEN SAVORY (Satureja hortensis L.)

Relevance. Garden savory (Satureja hortensis L.) is an annual medicinal plant of interest due to the content of essential oil and phenolic compounds, the content of which varies depending on the variety. Identification of the relationship between morphological and biochemical traits will make the se-lection of productive plants more effective and accelerated. The purpose of the study is to identify the phenotypic characteristics of garden savory plants, indicating a high content of certain pharmacologically significant compounds or their groups. Materials and methods. The 9 samples of garden savory served as the object of the study. The content of essential oil was determined in dry raw materials by hydrodistillation according to Clevenger, the component composition was determined by gas chromatography. The flavonoid content was determined in terms of rutin was carried out in terms of rutin, the amount of phenolic compounds and tannins in terms of gallic acid. Results: Early maturing varieties are characterized by a high content of essential oil (r = 0.685) with a low content of tannins (r = –0.69). There was a relationship between the leaf index and the content of tannins (r = 0.620), with the accumulation of flavonoids (r = –0.522), with the content of γ-terpinene in the essential oil (r = 0.77) and of carvacrol (r = –0.76). The presence of anthocyanin coloration is interconnected with the content of essential oil (r = –0.688) and content of carvacrol in it (r = –0.53), with the content of the sum of flavonoids (r = 0.598), gamma terpinene (r =0.541) and tannins (r = 0.7). Conclusion. The identified phenotypic features of garden savory plants indicate a high content of certain pharmacologically significant compounds or their groups. Thus, is shown the selecting possibility of prospective plants according to external features.