This study investigated the effect of drying methods on the essential oil content and composition of Lavandula angustifolia for identification suitable drying method for post harvest processing. The drying methods tested were sun-drying (SD, 72 h under sunlight), closed shade-drying (CSD, 72 h under shade condition in a closed place), oven-drying (OD, 48 h heated at 40 C) and microwave-drying (MD, 5 min irradiated at 55% energy of 900 W). The essential oils from dried samples were isolated by hydrodistillation and analysed by gas chromatography– flame ionization detector and GC–mass spectrometry. The drying method had a significant effect on the essential oil content (w/w%) and was in the order of: CSD (3.4%)[OD (2.6%)[SD (1.6%)[MD (0.9%). In total, 35, 36, 34 and 38 constituents were identified and quantified in shade, sunlight, oven and microwave drying, representing 99.1%, 98.3%, 98.7% and 98.2% of the total oil, respectively. The main components were linalool, linalyl acetate, lavandulyl acetate, terpinen-4-ol and aterpineol. However, the drying method had no effect on the proportion of the various components. UPGMA cluster and principal component analyses from essential oil constituents grouped the employed treatments into three main clusters.
