IRANIAN JOURNAL OF MEDICINAL AND AROMATIC PLANTS
Year:2015 | Volume:31 | Issue:2 (70)|Papers Count:21

Sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) belongs to the Lamiaceae family. Sweet basil essential oil is used in food, medicine, and hygiene industries. In this study, the effect of different concentrations of nano iron chelate fertilizer (1, 3, 5 Kg.ha-1) and iron chelate fertilizer (1.5, 4.5, 7.5kg.ha-1) on the quantity and quality of O. basilicum essential oil (EO) were investigated. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with four replications in a farm located in Saveh. After collecting the aerial parts of O. balilicum, the EO was extracted via water distillation method. Then, the EO was analyzed by GC and GC/MS. Sixteen components were identified in the EO of O. basilicum. The major components were methyl chavicol (37%), geranial (26%), neral (21%) and caryophyllene oxide (3.5%), respectively. Among different treatments, the means of 10 components showed significant differences. The mean of EO percentage in all samples, treated by Fe and nano Fe fertilizers, was more than that of control.

The objective of this research was to study the effect of substrate culture, axillary bud removing and mother corm size on daughter corm production and morphological traits of saffron plant (Crocus sativus L.) An experiment was carried out in factorial based on completely randomized design with four replications. Treatments included mother corm size (large 9.5-11 g or medium 6-7.5 g) substrates (perlite or soil), axillary buds removing (removing all axillary buds or no removing axillary buds). Results showed that the mother corm size had a significant effect on leaf dry weight, root dry weight, total dry weight of plants, daughter corm weight, and number of daughter corms. In addition, the large corms caused an increase in these traits. The highest root dry weight, root number, daughter corm dry weight, and total dry weight of plant were obtained in the perlite substrate. It was observed that the plants grown in the soil produced more as compared to those grown in the perlite. Although, root number and daughter corm size increased by the axillary buds removing, the number of daughter corms decreased by this treatment.

Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) quantitative and qualitative yield was assessed in a factorial experiment based on randomized complete block design with three replications. The factors included NPK fertilizers at three levels (0, 50 and 100 percent of the recommended amount of fertilizer) and non-chemical fertilizers in four levels (no fertilizer, vermicompost, bio fertilizers containing Pseudomonas and Bacillus, and integrated application of vermicompost and bio fertilizers). Results showed that the interaction effect of chemical and non-chemical fertilizers was significant on all parameters and fertilization increased the quality and quantity yield of saffron compared to control. Integrated application of 50% of the amounts of chemical fertilizers, vermicompost and bacteria was the superior treatment to increase stigma dry weight, stigma yield, crocin percentage, picrocrocin percentage and safranal percentage by 2.03, 4.65, 0.83, 1.10 and 1.46 fold, respectively in comparison with control. Although the effectiveness of integrated application of bacteria with 0% and 100% chemical fertilizers on crocin content, pure vermicompost and integrated application of bacteria with 50% and 100% chemical fertilizers on picrocrocin content and pure bacteria on safranal content were more than those of integrated application of vermicompost, bio and 50% chemical fertilizer, the greatest impacts of recent treatment on flower yield, stigma yield and stigma ingredients led to introduce it as the superior treatment. The effectiveness of this treatment compared to 0%, 50% and 100% of chemical fertilizer application on dry stigma was 50.95%, 20.48% and 12.86%, respectively.

Stevia rebaudiana Bert. is a medicinal plant, mostly utilized as a suitable sweeter for diabetic patients. In this research, the effect of single or co-inoculation of Arbuscular Mycorrhiza Fungi (AMF) and bacteria (Bacillus polymixa, Pesudomonas putida and Azotobacter chroococcuom) on regenerated plantlets in tissue culture was investigated in intervals of 15, 30, 45, 60 days after planting. Results showed that in comparison to control, inoculation with single and triple treatments significantly increased length, fresh and dry weight of aerial parts and stevioside content until 60 days after planting while the best enhancement was observed in dual inoculations especially in Glomus+Azotobacter treatments. Interestingly, in dual or triple inoculations, maximum relative growth rate was obtained in 15-30 days and reduced in 30-45 days after planting that was in accordance with their flowering time but in single inoculation maximum relative growth rate was available in 30-45 days and with promoting of flowering phase in 45-60 days declined severely. However, maximum stevioside accumulation rate was obtained 30-45 days after planting in all treatments and in 45-60 days after planting reduced severely in single or triple inoculations and more slightly in dual inoculations. Therefore, microorganisms affect relative growth rate, phenology and stevioside accumulation pattern in stevia.

Phenological stages of Moringa peregrina (Forssk.) Fiori. was studied in the southeast of Iran during 2008 to 2011. This study was carried out in six regions of Hormozgan and Balochestan provinces. Three trees were marked in each site and monitored every 15 days. Phenological stages included the time of bud break, flowering, fruiting, ripening, fruit and leaf shedding, and several other characteristics. The results of phenological and meteorological data indicated that the growth patterns of M. peregrina might alter with annual temperatur, fluctuations of drought and precipitation. M. peregrina is an evergreen plant and its growth is started when proper temperature and enough humidity are available. Leaf buds begin to sprout and primary leaves appear in January. These leaves are short-lived and start to fall in May when the temperature gets warm. White and pink flowers appear in February and March. Pod-like and green fruits appear on young branches in April and May. Fruit ripening starts simultaneously with maturity stage in July and seeds begin to fall out in August. Petiole falling starts simultaneously with fruit development and drought occurance from late May to late June. Dormancy period is followed by August and continues until November. Rainfall during the flowering stage induces the flowers not to inoculate, and other phonological phases are affected. Results from different sites showed that the phenological stages of Moringa peregrina might be altered with aspect, altitude and latitude, but in all conditions, the minimum growth degree days (G.D.D) required for ripening seed should not be less than 2470°C.

One of the aspects of the production of medicinal plants is lower consumption of chemical inputs which could be effective in protecting the environment in addition to maintaining or improving product quality. Therefore, this study was conducted in order to investigate the effect of integrated management of organic and chemical fertilizers on yield and qualitative characteristics in black cumin (Nigella sativa L.). This experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with nine treatments and three replications at the Shahrekord University in 2012. The treatments consisted of control (no amended nitrogen), cattle manure, urea, three levels of split integrated fertilizer (2/3 cattle manure + 1/3 urea, 1/2 cattle manure + 1/2 urea, 1/3 cattle manure + 2/3 urea), and three levels of full integrated fertilizer (2/3 cattle manure + 1/3 urea, 1/2 cattle manure + 1/2 urea, 1/3 cattle manure + 2/3 urea). Results indicated that the application of N-fertilizer caused significant increase in oil, protein and essence contents and their production in black cumin (p<0.01). Integrated application of organic manure + chemical fertilizer produced higher amount of oil, essence and protein in comparison with solitary application (p<0.01). The full dose application of urea fertilizer (FDA) significantly enhanced the content and production of oil (322 g kg -1 and 674 kg ha-1, respectively), protein (248 g kg-1 and 595 kg ha-1, respectively), essence (3.1 gkg-1 and 7.2 kgha-1, respectively) in comparison with split application. In conclusion, the full dose application of urea fertilizer (FDA) in integration with organic manure could enhance the quality of black cumin seed.

The effects of water deficit on yield, essential oil contents and composition of Noroozak (Salvia leriifolia Benth.) were investigated at Khorasan-e-Razavi Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Center, Mashhad-Iran. The treatments were deficit irrigation based on actual evapotranspiration (ETc) at the rate of 100% (fully irrigated), 66.6% (moderate stress), 33.3% (severe stress) and non-irrigated (control). The experiment was analyzed in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Results indicated that the essential oil percentage of green leaves and flowering stem in severe stress and control was significantly (P£0.05) higher than that of fully irrigated treatment. The highest and lowest dry matter yields were obtained in fully irrigated and control treatments, respectively. Severe deficit (P£0.05) decreased the essential oil yield significantly but it was not affected in moderate stress. Results also showed that 1, 8-cineol, b-pinene and borneol were the main essential oil constituents in all water deficit treatments, included nearly 50% of total essential oil contents. The above essential oil constituents in control treatment increased by 21.1%, 7% and 15.3% in green leaves and 39%, 12% and 55% in flowering stems in comparison with fully irrigated treatment. However cedren-13-ol and d-cadinene decreased by 58.5% and 46% in green leaves and 52% and 14% in flowering stems, respectively.

In this investigation, the effects of alcoholic extract administration of walnut’s leaves (Juglans regia L.) on the serum levels of glucose, urea, triglyceride and cholesterol of diabetic rats were studied. Alcoholic extract of walnut’s leaves was prepared by maceration technique and then their lethal dose was measured. From 32 male and female rats, 8 rats were considered as control (non diabetic) and the others were made diabetic by subcutaneous injection of 120mg/kg body weight Alloxan monohydrate. Diabetic rats were divided into experimental groups as follows: 1 (with no treatment), 2 (treated with 0.75g/kg body weight alcoholic extract) and 3 (treated with 0.5 g/kg body weight of alcoholic extract). Blood samples were collected weekly for a period of four weeks and the serum levels of glucose, urea, triglyceride and cholesterol were measured. The results indicated that the administration of extract might lower the serum levels of glucose and urea and increase the serum levels of cholesterol and triglyceride.

In order to evaluate soil fertilization systems on yield quantity and quality of basil (Ocimum basilicum L.), this study was conducted as a field experiment in Shahrerey Islamic Azad University in 2011. The experiment was conducted in split plots in time based on completely randomized block design with three replications. The treatments were various levels of chemical fertilizers (N-P-K), different levels of manure, mixture of different ratios of fertilize and manure and without fertilizer and manure (control). Two harvests were arranged in main plots and 16 levels of fertilizer were assigned to the sub plots. According to the results, the highest amount of dry yield (2442 kgha-1) was obtained in second harvest and in intermediate treatment (25 tonha-1 of manure mixed with N=80, P=64 and K=80 kgha-1 of chemical fertilizers). Results showed that the intermediate treatment (10 tonha-1 of manure mixed with N=120, P=96 and K=120 kgha-1 of chemical fertilizers) in second harvest produced the highest amount of essential oil (0.69%). The results suggest that the use of organic fertilizer alone or in combination with chemical fertilizers has a positive effect in improving the yield quantity and quality of basil.

Chelidonium majus L. belonging to the Papaveraceae family, grows naturally in north of Iran with anti-cancer and anti-HIV properties because of isoquinoline alkaloids such as morphine, codeine, papaverine, thebaine and noscapine. The aim of this study was to quantify the amounts of the mentioned isoquinoline alkaloids in the samples collected from different altitudes of north of Iran, and investigate the effect of environmental factors on the amounts of these compounds. Therefore, five regions were selected including Mazandaran, Golestan, and Firoozkouh, and after quantitative measurements of alkaloids, the effect of altitude was also evaluated to determine its impact on the amount of these compounds. According to the obtained results, the maximum amount of the compounds mentioned above were 0.25, 0.18, 0.02, 2.14 and 0.27 w/w, and the minimum were 0.11, 0.0, 0.0, 0.11 and 0.0 w/w, respectively. Altitude showed a significant negative correlation (p<0.01) with the amount of these compounds.

This research was aimed to investigate the effect of planting date and soil flooding duration on some biochemical characteristics of purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench) in Sari region. The study was conducted in a RCBD based split plot with three replications in the Research Farm of the Genetics and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute of Tabarestan, Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University, in 2012. Experimental treatments included three planting dates (June 30, July 30 and August 29) and three soil flooding durations (without flooding as control, three and five-day flooding) which were considered as main and sub-plots, respectively. Malondialdehyde (MDA), total phenols and flavonoids contents, protein oxidation of the leaves, enzyme activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT), as well as percentage of DPPH free radical inhibition were determined. Results of this experiment showed a significant increment of malondialdehyde (MDA) content in purple coneflower leaf with the highest level in five-day flooding duration and in August 29 planting date. The highest decrease in total protein was found in the same planting data and flooding duration with 90 % decline than control. The highest activity of antioxidant enzymes of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) was recorded in the purple coneflowers leaves, cultivated in June 30, and flooded for three days, while the highest activity of peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT) were observed in plants cultivated in July 30. Five-day soil flooding markedly increased the total phenols and flavonoids content just in plants transplanted in June 30. In addition, the highest percentage of DPPH free radical inhibition was measured in plants subjected to continues five-day soil flooding and cultivated in August 29. In conclusion, it seems that the coneflower plant relatively showed a good tolerance to flooding stress.

The flowers of Eriobotrya japonica Lindl. have antioxidant and protective effects. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of neuroprotection with hydro-alcoholic extract of Eriobotrya japonica flowers on CDNF, malondialdehyde and superoxide dismutase levels in the rat cerebral cortex in an experimental model of Parkinson’s disease. In this study, animals were randomly divided into three groups of nine each (control, damaged and damaged treated with plant extract). At first, the second and third groups of rats received the solvent of extract (saline) and the extract (200 mg/kg body weight) intraperitoneally for twelve weeks and three days per week, respectively. For Parkinson’s disease in rats, 6-OHDA was injected into the right ventricle of the brain after 12 weeks. After five daThe flowers of Eriobotrya japonica Lindl. have antioxidant and protective effects. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of neuroprotection with hydro-alcoholic extract of Eriobotrya japonica flowers on CDNF, malondialdehyde and superoxide dismutase levels in the rat cerebral cortex in an experimental model of Parkinson’s disease. In this study, animals were randomly divided into three groups of nine each (control, damaged and damaged treated with plant extract). At first, the second and third groups of rats received the solvent of extract (saline) and the extract (200 mg/kg body weight) intraperitoneally for twelve weeks and three days per week, respectively. For Parkinson’s disease in rats, 6-OHDA was injected into the right ventricle of the brain after 12 weeks. After five days, rats were sacrificed and CDNF, SOD and MDA levels in their cortex were measured. Data were analyzed using ANOVA test. Our results showed that pre-treatment with the flower extract of Eriobotrya japonica, increased CDNF and SOD and decreased MDA levels of cerebral cortex. These effects may be caused by phenolic and flavonoid compounds of this plant with strong antioxidant properties. Therefore, it could be concluded that this plant extract has protective role against Parkinson’s disease because of protecting neurons against oxidative damage of toxic 6-OHDA.ys, rats were sacrificed and CDNF, SOD and MDA levels in their cortex were measured. Data were analyzed using ANOVA test. Our results showed that pre-treatment with the flower extract of Eriobotrya japonica, increased CDNF and SOD and decreased MDA levels of cerebral cortex. These effects may be caused by phenolic and flavonoid compounds of this plant with strong antioxidant properties. Therefore, it could be concluded that this plant extract has protective role against Parkinson’s disease because of protecting neurons against oxidative damage of toxic 6-OHDA.

Regarding to the important role of weed management, soil fertility and organic farming of the medicinal plants, in this research, the effect of different levels of redroot pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexux L.) density on growth and yield of sahendi savory (Satureja sahendica Bornm.) was studied in several fertility regimes including vermicompost with complete and decreased amount of conventional fertilizers. Experiment was carried out using randomized complete block design with factorial arrangement of treatments with three replicates in Esmaeil Abad Station of Agriculture and Natural Resoursec Research Organization of the Qazvin province during 2010-2012. Fertility factors included NPK plus micro nutrients spraying in first and second year (CF), vermicompost (4 t/ha) in first year (V4), vermicompost (2 t/ha) in first year plus liquid vermitea(40 L/ha) in second year (V2T). Redroot pigweed density levels included 0, 6, 12, and 18 plants per square meter (W0, W6, W12 and W18). Results showed that in first year main effect of fertilizer on shoot weight, and main effect of weed interference on essential oil (p<0.05) and shoot weight (p<0.01) were significant. Weed dry weight significantly (p<0.01) was influenced by weed density in both years of the experiment. The highest percentage of savory essential oil was obtained at 2 t/ha vermicompost+vermitea in no weed treatment. Sixteen compounds were identified in the essential oil of savory of which thymol, р- cymene and g-trepinene were the most important ones. According to the results of the essential oil analysis, treatment of 4 t/ha vermicompost in weed free condition increased thymol production. However, thymol decreased and р-cymene increased in response to the existence of weeds.

The main objective of this research was to investigate the effects of different application rates of vermicompost and chemical fertilizer on qualitative and quantitative performance of purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea L.). A field experiment was conducted at Research Field of Tarbiat Modares University during the growing season of 2009-2010. The experiment was arranged as a factorial in a randomized complete block design with three replicates. There were 12 treatments consisting of three chemical fertilizer levels (no fertilizer application, 75 kg nitrogen/ha as urea form + 3000ppm micronutrient fertilizer/ha, and 150kg nitrogen/ha as urea form + 6000ppm micronutrient fertilizer/ha) and four vermicompost levels (0, 2, 4, and 6 ton ha-1). Results showed that vermicompost had significant effects on dry weights of stem, flower, root, total biological yield, number of flowers per plant and SPAD value. In addition, the interaction between chemical fertilizer and vermicompost was significant for root dry weight, 100 flowers dry weight and plant height. The application of 4 ton vermicompost ha-1 without chemical fertilizer resulted in the highest values of stem dry weight, flower dry weight, number of flowers per plant and plant height. The highest root dry weight and total biological yield was obtained by applying 2.94 and 3.59 ton vermicompost ha-1, respectively. There were not significant chemical fertilizer differences on all measured traits. None of the experimental factors showed significant influences on total phenolic compounds in different plant organs. According to results of this experiment, organic fertilizer (vermicompost) could be introduced as a suitable alternative to the use of chemical fertilizer in purple coneflower cultivation.

Thyme, a perennial species from Lamiaceae family, is a valuable medicinal plant in the world. Thymus daenensis Celak. is distributed in many parts of Iran. In order to investigate the effect of micro-chelate iron and iron sulfate on stem length, crown cover, biomass yield, dry matter yield, and absorption rate of N, P, K, and Fe in leaves, a factorial experiment in a randomized complete block design with three replicates was conducted. The study was performed in Homand Rangeland Research station in 2012. Three levels of micro-chelate iron (0, 3, and 6 kgha-1) and iron sulfate (3 and 6 kg in 1000 liters of water per square meter) at three stages. Results of analysis variance showed that the effect of different amounts of fertilizers on stem length (p£0.05), biomass yield and dry matter yield (p£0.01) were significant (28.63 cm, 5110 and 2613kg.h-1). The interaction of two above fertilizers on crown cover (47.81 cm2), absorption rate of N, P, K, Fe in leaves were significant (p£0.01). The highest absorption rate of N was P, K and Fe were 1.1%, 1.14, 15.9, and 1.70 g.kg-1, respectively. Therefore, nano iron chelate at 6kg.ha-1 could be recommended.