Phylogenetic analysis of Perilla crop (Perilla frutescens L.) based on morphological characteristics and volatile substances

East Asia is the primary growing region for the two varieties of Perilla crop. Especially in South Korea, Perilla crop is a representative leafy vegetable. Each type of Perilla crop has various uses as leafy vegetables, oil crops, or folk remedies. Their distinct morphological traits and aromatic compounds allow identification of three types [cultivated type of var. frutescens (CF), weedy type of var. frutescens (WF), weedy type of var. crispa (WC)] of Perilla crop and five groups (G1–G5), which are based on an aroma sensory phenotypic test. To understand the morphological variation, we conducted a morphological characteristic survey; 80 Perilla accessions collected from South Korea were evaluated using 13 quantitative and nine qualitative characteristics. The three types (CF, WF, WC) of Perilla were divided into five groups based on the aroma sensory phenotypic test and included three representative aromatic compounds [perilla aldehyde (PA), perilla ketone (PK), dill apiol] characterizing each group. Principal component analysis revealed that PK, PA, plant height, and leaf area provided a remarkable contribution in the positive or negative direction on the first component axis. Also, discrimination between [G1, G2, G5] and [G3, G4] on the first component axis was enabled by PK and leaf area. The color of leaf surface and PK (− 0.794^**) showed the highest correlation coefficient between morphological characteristics and biochemicals. As responses to the popularization of Korean food are gradually expanding, this study is expected to provide useful information for Perilla fragrance breeding using Korean Perilla landrace accessions.