## 4 Chemical Composition  
The aerial parts of the species contain a great diversity of volatile compounds, including sabinene, \(\alpha\)-Terpinene, \(\gamma\)-Terpinene, limonene, terpinen-4-ol, thymyl methyl oxide, p-Cymene, \(\alpha\)-Pinene, Z-\(\beta\)-Ocimene, \(\beta\)-Phellandrene, dillapiole and myrcene [1; 7; 21; 23; 82; 83; 84; 85; 86]. Figure 3: Sea fennel plants at different growth stages (**left** picture: fully grown plants; **right** picture: plants at flowering stage). Fruits and seeds (mericarps) also contain essential oils and lipids that are located in the canals of the outer secretory envelope that covers the seeds and the endosperm, respectively [87; 88], as well as tocopherols [89]. The growing conditions may affect the composition of essential oils by altering the content of its constituents. For example, [PERSON] et al. [6] reported that the essential oils of sea fennel cultivated in Greece contained sabinene (49.45%), gamma-terpinene (31.35%), followed by pinene (9.57%), limonene (2.73%) and teripinen-4-ol (1.50%). In contrast, [PERSON] et al. [85] suggested sabinene and \(\gamma\)-terpinene as the major compounds (32.0 and 33.6%, respectively) in wild plants collected in Portugal, followed by teripin-4-ol (3.4%) and limonene (2,73%). Similar results were reported by [PERSON] et al. [82], who also identified sabinene and \(\gamma\)-terpineol as the major compounds, while [PERSON] et al. [90] reported that sabinene, \(\gamma\)-terpinene and methylthymol accounted for more than 80% of the total identified compounds. The genotype also has an important effect on essential oil composition. According to [PERSON] et al. [91], two distinct chemotypes of Portuguese populations of _C. maritiumum_ were identified based on their dillapiole content, while the same authors reported a variable essential oil composition in plant parts at different growth stages (e.g., vegetative stage, anthesis and fruit formation) [91]. Similarly, [PERSON] et al. [92] identified two chemotypes based on dillapiole content, with its greatest content being recorded in samples from Sardinia. [PERSON] et al. [82] suggested that the essential oil composition of plant parts is susceptible to seasonal variation and dillapiole may increase its content in December (up to 10%), while the sabinene content was the highest during fruit ripening (up to 30%). According to [PERSON] et al. [93], the oil yield of the aerial parts was 0.36%, while [PERSON] et al. [91], who determined the oil yield of the aerial biomass and distinct plant parts (leaves, stems and infloresances), suggested oil yields between 0.2 and 0.5% for aerial biomass and 0.3 and 0.9%, 0.3 and 0.6% and 0.6 and 2.4% for leaves, stems and infloresances, respectively. Moreover, [PERSON] et al. [94] highlighted the importance of growing conditions (location) and genotype on the essential oil yield and reported a varied oil content among the _C. maritium_ plant material (aerial parts) collected from six natural sites (Greece, Cyprus, Spain, Malta, France and Poland), while similar results were reported by [PERSON] et al. [95] for the essential oil of plants collected from different sites in Turkey. The same authors suggested that the application of Tytanit, a mineral biostimulant, significantly increased the total oil yield as well as the individual terpen content [94]. Therefore, it is important to determine the appropriate harvesting time of the crop in each area in order to optimize the quality of the final product. Apart from volatile compounds, several secondary metabolites have been identified in plant parts of the species thus far. According to [PERSON] and [PERSON] [52], mild saline conditions may induce the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, although reduced biomass production should be expected. The same authors suggested that _C.