Journal of Applied Research on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants最新文献

Clary sage is an important aromatic herb that has a high potential for commercial cultivation under the diversified climates of the Western Himalayas. The present study was carried out to understand the performance of genotypes and their interaction with the varied environments prevalent in the Western Himalayas and to identify stable and best-performing genotypes. In the present experiment, ten superior selections were evaluated in four different environments as multi-location trials in a randomized block design with three replications during 2021 and 2022. The pooled analysis of variance revealed significant variations for genotypes, environments, and genotype × environment interaction for all the studied traits. The highest mean performance suggests that Env-1 has the most suitable conditions for clary sage cultivation. The genotypes CSIR-IHBT-SS-07 and CSIR-IHBT-SS-09 were found to be the best performers for fresh inflorescence weight (418.73 g/plant) and essential oil content (428.91 mg/Kg), respectively. The results of Eberhart and Russell’s regression-based model confirm that the genotype CSIR-IHBT-SS-07 is a stable and superior genotype for the economically important traits. Further, the gas-chromatography mass spectroscopic characterization of essential oil disclosed that CSIR-IHBT-SS-07 was unique in terms of the highest sclareol content (23.39–45.17 %) across all the test environments. Genotype + Genotype × Environment biplot analysis confirmed that all the test environments form a single mega-environment. The study is a pioneer in unraveling the stability response of clary sage in Western Himalaya and provides a strong base for the identification of superior genotypes and selection strategy for future genetic improvement programs of clary sage.

Oregano species are commonly utilized for different medical purposes as well as for other essential oil products. One of the oregano species, Origanum onites L. has a dense natural distribution in the Aegean and Mediterranean regions of Turkey and Greece and is cultivated mainly in Denizli province. Turkey meets 80 % of the world's oregano market. Since Origanum onites L., whose essential oils are of high quality, has a high economic value, assessing the quality and production of essential oils extracted using various methods is important. Microwave-assisted distillation (MWAD) processes are generally carried out under laboratory conditions using clevenger or small-scale specialized instruments made for research in the lab. Thus, designing industrial-scale distillation systems with microwave power is necessary. For this reason, an industrial-type MWAD system with 12 magnetrons (power output of 1 kW) was developed in this work, and both conventional steam distillation (SD) and MWAD of oregano plant were realized, as a novelty. This study experimentally investigated the effects of microwave power and applied time on both energy saving (%) and essential oil yield (%). System was designed to distill 9 kg of dried plants chopped at once and the results obtained were used to obtain reference data for MWAD systems that can be used in industrial systems. The obtained essential oil samples were subjected to GC-MS analysis for chemical analysis. A statistical analysis of the experimental data was performed via Design Expert software to elucidate the impact of microwave power and time on essential oil yield and energy savings. When the results were evaluated, the essential oil yield of oregano plant increased by 4–22 % with the MWAD system compared to SD. The highest increase in yield was achieved with the test (500 W + 40 min). Also, the distillation time with MWAD system was 50 % shorter than with SD system. The MWAD system consumed at least 25 % less energy. According to the GC-MS analysis results, carvacrol increased steadily depending on the time applied microwave power as well as oxygenated monoterpenes. The chemical composition of the essential oils obtained from the proposed MWAD system did not show any incompatible value according to the ISO-7925 standard. As a result, this proposed method can be safely used in industrial systems.

We report the seed germination and associated metabolic responses of differentially stored seeds of Verbascum thapsus L. (Scrophulariaceae), an economically and medicinally important herb from the cold desert region of Lahaul (Himachal Pradesh, India) in trans Himalaya, to certain physico-chemical and GA₃ treatments. The freshly harvested seeds of V. thapsus exhibited high (96 %) viability but low germination (55 %). During the storage of seeds under ambient conditions, viability did not change until 1-year but declined progressively thereafter showing a 33 % decline in 4-year stored seeds. The seed germination was promoted to varying extents by acid scarification (AS), SNP (sodium nitroprusside), SHC (sodium hypochlorite) and GA₃ pre-treatments. Storage-dependent changes in seed germination performance and responsiveness to different effectors were evident. Germination performance improved significantly due to 1-year storage followed by a sharp decline subsequently. The responsiveness of seeds to various treatments tended to be higher in seeds stored for ≥2 years. The changes in germination were paralleled by those in α-amylase activity in seeds. Lipid peroxidation generally increased during storage that was paralleled by a gradual decline in superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and phenolic contents. Catalase (CAT) activity increased transiently in 1-year stored seeds and declined thereafter. Data are expected to have implications for multiplication and cultivation of V. thapsus.

The genus Curcuma, containing over 120 species, have considerable ornamental, edible and medicinal value. Due to the persistent lack of efficient genomic SSR markers, the conservation and identification of Curcuma genetic resources have faced substantial challenges in practical applications. To date, there are few systematic researches on whole-genome mining of SSR locus in the genus Curcuma. Herein, we performed the first deep identification of genome-wide SSR markers based on the whole-genome data of C. alismatifolia. A total of 257,032 SSR loci were identified with an average density of 216.1–367.3 SSRs/Mb within each chromosome. Mononucleotide repeat loci were most abundant, accounting for 55.1 % of all SSRs, with dinucleotide and trinucleotide repeats accounting for 22.6 % and 20.3 %, respectively. Moreover, 38 polymorphic genomic SSRs (g-SSR) were screened from the synthesized 280 primer pairs, with an average allele number (Na) and polymorphic information content (PIC) of 15.342 and 0.775 per locus, respectively. These markers had excellent cross-species transferability with an overall efficiency of 97.5 % in 21 Curcuma species. According to the cluster and structure analyses, the 178 Curcuma accessions were devided into three major clades correspongding to their origins, hybrid affinities and use values. Finally, a total of 66 Curcuma core collections were preserved, with no significant difference in genetic diversity between the core and entire collections by the t-test. A combination of numbers and letters was employed to establish DNA barcodes for 66 core collections. This study provides valuable molecular markers for wild-collection and conservation, genetic diversity analysis and marker-assisted selection breeding of Curcuma.