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

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.

Plants have played important and essential roles in treatment of various diseases and have invigorated the discovery of newer medicines. The secondary metabolites, such as alkaloids, flavonoids, phenolic acids, saponins, and anthraquinones have generally been considered responsible for the medicinal plants' several biological activities and therapeutic applications. Variations in the secondary metabolites structures and their natural abundance in medicinal plants are major reasons behind their differing in biological activities, which are affected by several external and intrinsic factors, including environmental conditions, the maturation stage of the plant, and process of plant’s material preparation and extraction. The current review discusses the factors affecting secondary metabolites’ structural variations and accumulations in the plants. Rosemary, Salvia rosmarinus, or Rosmarinus officinalis L., served as a representative example. The rosemary herb contains two main categories of secondary metabolites; volatiles as essential oil, and non-volatile constituents, which is primarily composed of polyphenolics. These two categories of plant products play pivotal role in plant’s chemo-diversity, biological activity, and their applications in traditional system of medicine by various societies in different regions of the world. The rosemary plant's industrial applications, which are mostly attributed to its volatile constituents, and the famed, prominent antioxidant activity is correlated to its polyphenolic constituents. Hence, rosemary was selected as a candidate medicinal plant to study the factors influencing the constituents variations and their involvement in the bioactivity and efficacy of the plant. Environmental variants of humidity, drought, soil salinity, the intrinsic factor of maturation stage of the plant, and the techniques of harvested plant materials’ drying, and extraction have been reported as major factors affecting the variations in quality and quantity of the plant’s constituents. The volatile oil constituents of rosemary herbs were observed to be more sensitive to environmental conditions and plant material’s preparative methods, as compared to the non-volatile constituents of the plant. This review's contents and conclusive suggestions can be suitable to most of the aromatic and medicinal plants that are grown in different climatic zones under varied environmental conditions for obtaining the plants-based, economically-valuable products for the industrial and market use.

Basil seed gum (BSG), a natural vegetable gum, was extracted by ethanol precipitation method using basil seeds as raw material. Based on the single factor experiments, Box-Behnken response surface test was performed to optimize the extraction conditions, and the physicochemical and functional properties of the extracted basil seed gum, as well as its microstructure, were analyzed in detail. The results showed that the optimal extraction conditions of basil seed gum were as follows: liquid-to-feed ratio of 62:1, temperature of 50 °C, extraction time of 29.50 min, and pH = 8.1, with yield of 11.28 %. BSG was mainly composed of total sugars (93.09 %), uronic acid (18.83 %), proteins (2.77 %), and ash (4.35 %), and its monosaccharides included D-(+)-anhydrous glucose (58.26 %), D-galactose (21.40 %), D-mannose (11.96 %), D-(+)-galacturonic acid (7.82 %), D-arabinose (0.28 %), D-(+)-xylose (0.28 %), and L-rhamnose (0.002 %). Comparative analysis of the functional properties of basil seed gum and three commercial vegetable gums (linseed gum, caraway seed gum, guar gum) showed that basil seed gum had excellent water retention properties, and its water absorption and water holding properties were much better than those of three commercial gums. Rheological characterization showed that BSG was a pseudoplastic fluid with high zero-shear viscosity. In addition, the basil seed gum powder showed an irregular flaky fibrous structure under microscope and was a semi-crystalline polymer. In view of the high aqueous absorption and retention properties of basil seed gum, it has promising applications in food, cosmetic and medical devices.

The Indian system of medicine’s “Ayurvedic pharmacopeia of India (API)” recommends the use of Sida cordifolia Linn (root), Sida cordata (Burm.f.) Borss.Waalk. (aerial part), Sida rhombifolia Linn. (root) and Abutilon indicum (Linn.) Sw. (root) in drug preparations of Bala, Nagabala, Mahabala and Atibala respectively. Moreover many Sida sp. are being used in China, South East Asia, Africa and South America in their traditional healthcare systems. It is a taxonomically complex genus often difficult to authenticate from dried/chopped herbal market samples. Many Sida sequences from the NCBI database, including published reports, were highly suspect and were redesignated into species groups during phylogenetic clustering. Among the four loci studied, ITS2 region was identified as the best for the Sida species identification followed by trnH-psbA. The trnH-psbA phylogeny however fails to differentiate between (1) S. beddomei and S. cordata, (2) S. alnifolia and S. scabrida, (3) S. cordifolia and S. fryxellii that formed monophyletic clusters. The average evolutionary divergence over Sequence Pairs within each species group for ITS2 locus ranged from 0.000 to 0.009 (Average=0.0021), while average Interspecific distance between species was 0.1175 making them ideal for authentication of Sida species. The matK and rbcL is recommended as a back-up loci for identifying intergeneric adulterants in case, the ITS2 or trnH-psbA amplification fails. The present study identified two market samples as adulterant species; (1) S. alnifolia and (2) a mixture of S. acuta and S. alnifolia/S.scabrida. The study provides a roadmap for Ayurvedic/herbal industry to utilize DNA barcoding for authentication of Sida species. At the same time the presence of “Unknown Sida group” highlights the need for further research to accurately classify and identify all Sida species at the phylogenetic level, utilizing the DNA barcode sequences to thoroughly understand the diversity and evolution of the Sida genus.

Aquilaria sinensis (Lour.) Spreng is an economically important tree that produces agarwood when subjected to mechanical wounding. However, the information regarding its heredity is limited. The breeding of A. sinensis has been hindered due to ambiguity in the sources of germplasm, genetic background, and varietal information. Simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers are ideal for studying genetic diversity and germplasm identification in plants. They offer the advantages of high polymorphism, good reproducibility, and co–dominance. Here, we mined SSR markers within agarwood–inducing genes and used them to explore the genetic diversity among A. sinensis natural germplasm. A total of 407 SSR loci were identified within 92 genes. We designed 96 primer pairs, among which 16 showed polymorphism and were subsequently used to analyze the genetic diversity and population structure of 179 A. sinensis individuals. A total of 107 alleles were identified, with an average of 7 alleles per locus, and their polymorphism information content ranged between 0.424 and 0.769, with an average of 0.569. The analysis of molecular variance revealed that genetic variation within the individuals accounted for 94 % of the total variation, inditing that the variation of A. sinensis is derived from individual variation. Furthermore, the structure analysis indicated that the natural populations of A. sinensis could be theoretically divided into 16 subgroups. The 16 polymorphic SSRs had strong cross–species transferability and distinguished individuals of A. agallochum (Lour.) Roxb. ex Finl. and A. malaccensis Lam. Taken together, these findings provide a useful resource for germplasm identification and molecular marker–assisted breeding of A. sinensis.

Floral hemp, a plant rich in cannabinoids, has gained attention for its potential therapeutic properties. It is crucial to have proper storage conditions that will maintain the cannabinoid content. To the best of our knowledge, very little has been done on the storage conditions of dried floral hemp. Hence, this study investigated the effect of storage conditions like moisture content, temperature, storage time, light exposure, and packaging materials, on cannabinoid stability in dried floral hemp. The cultivar ‘Quick Spectrum’ at two moisture levels (8.5 and 4.5 %) was stored over a 6-month storage period. Results indicated that a higher amount of cannabinoids samples was retained at 8.5 ± 1 % moisture compared to samples at 4.5 ± 0.5 %, even though total CBD, total ∆9-THC, and total CBDV content remained statistically the same throughout the storage period, and was not affected by temperature, lighting, and packaging material. In contrast, certain individual cannabinoids, such as CBDVA, CBD, ∆9-THCA, and ∆9-THC were significantly affected by temperature and lighting. Notably, higher storage temperatures (22 °C) and light exposure (F15T8/F5 fluorescent light) increased the degradation and decarboxylation rate of cannabinoids. These findings showed the importance of optimized storage conditions for floral hemp, especially long-term storage. This will help provide standardized storage protocols to aid producers, testing laboratories, distributors, and consumers in making informed decisions about storage practices and advancing quality control in the hemp industry.

Salvia rosmarinus Spenn. (Rosemary) holds significant value in medicinal and aromatic applications, serving as a key ingredient in pharmaceuticals, food products, and cosmetics. While many plant species benefit from seed-based propagation, S. rosmarinus poses a challenge due to its mucilaginous seed coating. As a result, germination rates often remain low, ranging from 10 % to 20 %, leading to irregular crop establishment. This study aimed to explore the efficacy of hormonal and other pre-sowing treatments on seed germination of S. rosmarinus. Four distinct treatments were evaluated including physical (sandpaper scarification, dry heat, hot and cold water stratification), chemical (sulphuric acid, hydrogen peroxide, and potassium nitrate), hormonal treatments (GA₃, IAA, and BAP), combination of pre-chilling and hormonal, as well as different potting media combinations, which were compared against an untreated control. All pre-sowing seed treatments, except for hot water, dry heat, chemical treatments, and nanozim, resulted in increased seed germination percentages in S. rosmarinus compared to the control group. Among the different treatments, the combination of pre-chilling + GA₃ and pre-chilling + soil: sand (1:1) treatment resulted in the highest germination percentages of 59.33 % and 63.83 %, compared with those in the control where the germination was 6.83 % and 0.67 %. Potassium nitrate (0.3 % for 3 min) was found to be the most effective chemical treatment with a germination percentage of 24.83 % and seedling vigor index of 3.93 ± 0.69. Pre-chilling treatment for 21 days was the most successful physical treatment, with a germination percentage of 36.66 % and a mean germination time of 17.45 ± 1.34 days. The germination percentage improved with increasing GA₃ concentration up to 150 ppm, beyond which a decline in trend was seen. These findings suggest that understanding the seed germination ecology of S. rosmarinus is crucial for developing seed germination protocols that can enhance mass multiplication with a shorter germination period, ultimately increasing the species' regeneration capability and preserving its variety in nature. This practical and economical approach can help to achieve consistent germination and seedling emergence in nursery raising as well.

This study investigates the combined effects of ultraviolet radiation (UV-C) and hermetic storage on the quality of Apiaceae spices intended for consumption after long-term storage. Anise, fennel, caraway, and cumin seeds were exposed to UV radiation for 0 (control) and 25 min of UV-C. Subsequently, the seeds were packed into jute and multilayers of polyethylene hermetic bags (120, 150, and 160 $\mu m$ with an antifungal coating) and stored in a naturally aerated storage room for 12 months. During the storage period, the ambient conditions ranged from 17.2 °C to 30.5 °C and from 59.3 % to 62.8 % RH. While the jute bags maintained the ambient conditions, the hermetic bags had significantly (P< 0.05) decreased temperature and relative humidity, depending on the packaging type and UV-C treatment. The seed moisture content increased significantly (P< 0.05) during storage. The increase percentage reached (20.5–24 %) in jute bags containing untreated seeds, whereas the 150 $\mu m$ and antifungal bags containing UV-treated seeds had the lowest increase percentage (0.3–4.0 %). By the end of the storage period, the hermetic bags containing fennel-treated seeds had the highest significant (CO₂/O₂) ratio of 163.8. UV-C efficiently suppressed microorganisms and insect infestation, particularly in seeds stored in the 150 $\mu m$ and antifungal bags. After 6 months of storage, the jute bags had 465–578 insects/kg. The results show that hermetic conditions maintained the phenolic content and antioxidants of Apiaceae spices, particularly with UV-treated seed. Based on the findings, pretreating Apiaceae seeds with UV-C sterilization is recommended prior to storage in hermetic bags. This approach is expected to accelerate the start of optimal hermetic conditions, thereby enhancing seed quality.