Korean Journal of Agricultural Science ISSN:2466-2402(Print) 2466-2410(Online) 농업과학연구

Agastache rugosa is an edible plant belonging to the Lamiaceae family and has different names including Korean Mint, purple giant hyssop, Indiana mint, and wrinkled giant hyssop. A. rugosa is renowned as a vegetable and herbal medicine in conventional therapy. Many compounds of A. rugosa were detected by instruments for industrial use. To examine various compounds in A. rugosa, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and highperformance liquid chromatography coupled with an ultraviolet-visible method (HPLC/UV) was developed. Essential oils including those used to treat diseases were extracted by a steam distillation method and characterized using the GC/MS method. Tilianin, a polyphenol compound possessing antioxidant capacity, was then analyzed by the HPLC/UV method. The six compounds of A. rugosa essential oil were identified as 1-heptanol, n,n-dimethylvinylamine, limonene, isomenthone, 4-allylanisole, and pulegone. Among these, the most abundant component was 4-allylanisole, accounting for 90.4% of the compounds. The tilianin content from aerial parts of A. rugosa was 9.58 mg·g-1 extract. Tilianin thus may serve as a marker compound for evaluating the bioactivity and determining the therapeutic efficacy of this plant. A. rugosa containing these bioactive compounds is expected to be a beneficial resource for expanding industrial applications in the future.