Results of competitive variety trials of promising cultivar of Melissa officinalis L. subsp. Altissima (Smith.) Arcang.
In 2017–2019, a competitive variety trial of promising cultivar MD 1-17 of Melissa officinalis L. subsp. Altissima (Smith.) Arcang was conducted. We compared it with M. officinalis L. subsp. Officinalis varieties ‘Krymchanka’ and ‘Lada’. Сultivar MD 1-17 significantly exceeds other varieties in terms of yield of fresh plant material (on average, by 77.4 and 62.2 %, respectively). It also surpasses variety ‘Krymchanka’ (the best in collecting essential oil from air-dried raw materials) by 57.1 %. Basic components presented in the essential oil of M. officinalis L. subsp. Altissima (Smith.) Arcang. cv. MD 1-17. Promising cultivar are caryophyllene (25.3–35.9 %) and germacrene D (17.7–31.2 %). Citral is almost completely absent or present in an insignificant amount (0.1–7.3 %); its proportion in the essential oil of varieties ‘Krymchanka’ and ‘Lada’ can reach 36.6 %.