Differences in the Aroma Profile of Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.) after Different Drying Conditions

This experiment was conducted to examine the influence of drying methods on the essential oil of chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.) and its chemical composition. Chamomile flower heads were dried using five different methods: sunlight for 72 h; shade for 1 week; oven at 40 °C for 72 h; solar dryer for 72 h; and microwave for 5 min. Drying methods had slight and nonsignificant impacts on dry biomass of flower heads. The highest percentages of oil in flowers (0.35–0.50%) were observed after solar-drying methods, and the lowest percentage of oil was found after microwave drying (0.24–0.33%). Drying methods significantly influenced the number of identified compounds. The maximum was identified after solar drying (21 compounds), while the lowest was identified after microwave drying (13 compounds), which revealed the solar ability to preserve compounds in contrast to microwave, which crushed the compounds. Major compounds were α-bisabolol oxide A (33.0–50.5%), (Z)-tonghaosu (10.0–18.7%), α-bisabolol oxide B (8.2–15.4%), α-bisabolone oxide A (5.4–14.6%), and chamazulene (1.9–5.2%) of essential oil. Drying methods clearly affected major compounds’ content as the lowest α-bisabolol oxide A was after sun drying, and the lowest α-bisabolol oxide B was after solar drying. (Z)-tonghaosu increased during drying compared to fresh flowers. Solar drying maintained higher chamazulene content (3.0%) compared to other drying methods. The results of this study suggest that drying under the shady conditions preserved chemical composition of essential oil with higher α-bisabolol content compared to other drying methods.