In fact,
Miele, Dondero, Ciarallo, and Mazzei (2001) described that the content
of eugenol and methyleugenol was correlated with plant
height: methyleugenol was predominant in plants up to 10 cm in
height, whereas eugenol was prevalent in taller plants. In addition,
Chang et al. (2009) reported a very high methyleugenol content in
the youngest basil leaves.
In the present study, huge amounts of methyleugenol were also
detected in the aroma of the in vitro shoots (VS, 72% RR; 76% DO),
mirroring the trend observed for the in vivo plants (YP). Conversely,
the other phenylpropanoid eugenol was not enhanced (0.1% and
0.4%, respectively) by the establishment of DO and RR in vitro VS.
It is important to point out that huge amounts of phenylpropanoids