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

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.

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.