IRANIAN JOURNAL OF MEDICINAL AND AROMATIC PLANTS
Year:2015 | Volume:31 | Issue:1 (69)|Papers Count:17

In order to study the effects of biofertilizers on the quantity and quality of John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum L.), an experiment was conducted at Shahed University in 2010. The studied factors included phosphatic biofertilizer (inoculated and non-inoculated), phosphorous fertilizer at three levels (0, 100, 200 kg/h) and vermicompost (0, 5, 10 ton/h). The study was conducted in a factorial experiment in the form of a randomized complete blocks design (RCBD) with three replications. In addition, one plot was considered as control group in each replication to be compared with other plots in which only chemical fertilizers (NPK: 250, 200 and 100 kg/h) were used. Results showed that the highest biological yield, flowering shoot yield, and hypericin yield were obtained by applying vermicompost at 5 ton/ha, and there was no significant difference between the application rates of 5 and 10 ton/ha. The interaction effects of phosphatic biofertilizer (inoculated) and phosphorous fertilizer were significant, so that the highest biological yield, flowering shoot yield, hypericin yield and chlorophyll a were obtained by applying 100 kg/ha P2O5 plus phosphatic biofertilizer, having no significant difference with the application rate of 200 kg/ha P2O5. Significant differences were found between biofertilizer treatments and control group. According to the obtained results, it seems that biofertilizers can be considered as a replacement for chemical fertilizers.

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) is of great value as an ornamental and medicinal plant. Therefore, studying the growth, morphological and anatomical parameters of rosemary cuttings in rooting stage is of utmost importance. In recent research, the separate and combined effects of Indole 3- Butyric acid (IBA) and vitamin- B1 (thiamine) on growth, rooting and anatomical structure of adventitious roots in Rosmarinus officinalis cuttings were investigated under hydroponic conditions. A factorial experiment was implemented using nine combined treatments including IBA and vitamin B1 at three levels. The treatments were applied on cuttings for two weeks under standard condition of light, temperature and humidity in hydroponic medium. Then, using cross-section method and double staining, the anatomy of root, in terms of cross-section, cortex cells growth and the density of secondary roots, were studied by a light microscope. Results showed that IBA application with or without B1 significantly affected the growth, anatomy and morphology of rosemary cuttings in rooting stage. However, our results clearly showed that vitamin B1 had an essential role on the growth of roots and IBA stimulated cell division in pericycle, causing the stimulation of rooting response of cuttings. According to he obtained results, the combined use of IBA and vitamin B1 showed significant effect on the propagation of rosemary as an ornamental and medicinal plant; therefore, their application could be recommended in commercial and farm conditions, and even in the case of other ornamental plants having difficulty propagating.

Crocus sativus L. is one of the most important medicinal plants and expensive spice in the world. This study was carried out to evaluate morphological traits and picrocrocin composition of 27 genotypes derived from different regions of country. Twenty-seven genotypes were cultivated in a randomized complete blocks design with three replications at Shahid Fozveh Station of Esfahan Research Center of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Stigma yield, flower fresh weight, number of flower, number of days to appearance of the first flower, plant height at flowering stage, flowering period and picrocrocin content were measured. Variance analysis of data showed significant differences among genotypes for all traits (p<0.01). Based on mean comparison, the highest and the lowest number of days to appearance of the first flower were recorded for Hamedan genotype and Ghaen and Boshroye genotypes, respectively. The variation range of picrocrocin varied from 0.425 to 0.681. Neishaboor and Esfahan genotypes had the highest and the lowest stigma yield, respectively. In addition, the highest number of flower was recorded for Neishaboor genotype. Cluster analysis divided the genotypes in to seven clusters. According to the obtained results, the genotypes classified in the 6th cluster showed appropriate traits of stigma yield, flower fresh weight, number of flower, flowering period, and number of days to appearance of the first flower. Results of this study revealed considerable variation among the genotypes probably because of the variety of ancestors or mutation phenomenon. Our results showed no relationship between agronomic diversity and geographic distribution.

In order to investigate the response of quantitative and qualitative characteristics of isabgol (Plantago ovata Forssk.) to different levels of cow manure and nitrogen fertilizers, an experiment was conducted in a randomized complete blocks design with four replications at the research farm, Shahrekord University in 2011. Treatments consisted of: control (no fertilizer) and three levels of nitrogen fertilizer (30, 60 and 90 N/ha in the form of urea) and three levels of cow manure (14.29, 28.58 and 42.78 Mg/ha). Results showed that there were no significant differences in quantitative and qualitative characteristics between cow manure and urea fertilizer applications. The highest grain yield and aboveground biomass (1618 and 9464 kg/ha, respectively) were observed in 90 kg N/ha from urea fertilizer, but it had no significant difference with that of the 42.87 Mg/ha of cow manure. The application of 42.87 Mg/ha of cow manure resulted in the greatest seed mucilage amount (%26.75), swelling factor (10.38 ml) and mucilage yield (415 kg/ha), but swelling factor and mucilage yield of this treatment had no significant difference with that of the 90 kg N/ha from urea fertilizer. In general, it is concluded that the use of cow manure in isabgol production, not only does not reduce grain and mucilage yield of isabgol but also it can produce high- mucilage seeds, resulting in reduced pollution caused by the use of chemical fertilizers.

Enhancing antioxidant pool especially phenolic compounds accumulation is one of the most important non enzymatic tools of plants to resist environmental stresses. In this investigation, basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) seedlings, grown in a control condition and irrigated with Hoagland nutrient solution, were treated with coronatine (COR) at 0 (Control), 50 and 100 nM and different concentrations of As (V) at 0 (Control), 150 and 300 mM. Then some parameters in treated plants were measured. Increasing of lipid peroxidation and electrolyte leakage and H2O2 accumulation in basil leaves were the symptoms of arsenate toxicity that were ameliorated by COR pretreatment. Increasing phenolic compound contents, flavonoid and anthocyanin content and enhancing PAL and PPO activity indicate that COR as a jasmonates analogue may ameliorate arsenic toxicity in O. basilicum seedlings by improving antioxidative defense system.

Hypericin and hyperforin compounds are considered as the main active constituents of Hypericum perforatum L. In this research, phytochemical variations of 25 St. John’s Wort populations in Iran’s natural habitats were investigated. Plants were sampled randomly at the full flowering stage from Golestan, Mazandaran, Gilan, East Azerbaijan, West Azerbaijan, Ardabil, Kurdistan, Hamedan, Kohgiloyeh and Boyr-Ahmad, Qazvin, Zanjan, Khorasan and Tehran provinces during the spring and summer of 2010. Results indicated that the differences in the amounts of hypericin and hyperforin of leaf and flower tissues were found to be significant among populations (P<0.05). Flower tissues had more hypericin and hyperforin amounts as compared to leaf tissues. The amount of hyperforin in both tissues was higher than that of hypericin significantly. Simple correlation analysis showed positive significant correlations between leaf hypericin with dark and light glands density on the leaf and light glands density on the leaf surface area as well as positive significant correlation between leaf hyperforin and leaf hypericin. The principal components analysis indicated that the two components explained 66% of the total variance. The cluster analysis divided these populations into three groups with no consistency in their geographical distribution. In conclusion, the results indicated high variations of phytochemical characters among St. John’s Wort populations in Iran’s natural habitats, which can be utilized in the breeding programs.

This research was aimed to investigate the effects of biological fertilizers on seedling survival rate of Thymus pubescens Bioss. The study was conducted in the research field of Alborz Research Station in 2011 using a factorial arrangement in a randomized complete blocks design with three replications. Treatments included seed inoculation (Glomus intraradices, G. mosseae and without inoculation) and seedling inoculation (Glomus intraradices, G. mosseae and without inoculation). Analysis of variance indicated that seed inoculation significantly affected canopy circle, number of tillers, number of lateral branches, plant height, seedling survival rate, seed colonization rate and shoot yield at p≤0.01 and flowering percentage at p≤0.05. According to the mean comparisons, the highest canopy circle, number of tillers, number of lateral branches, plant height, flowering percentage, seedling survival rate, root colonization rate and shoot yield were obtained for seed inoculation with G. intraradices. In addition, the highest number of tillers, number of lateral branches, plant height, root length, number of lateral roots, root colonization rate, essential oil percentage and shoot yield were obtained for seedling inoculation with G. intraradices. Consequently, in terms of essential oil percentage and shoot yield, better results were recorded for seed inoculation as compared to seedling inoculation.

A study was designed to investigate the effects of different levels of artichoke (Cynara scoolymus L.) powder on performance and humoral immune response of broiler chickens from 0-42 days of age. A total of 300 one-day-old Ross 308 broilers were randomly allocated to four treatments consisting of five replications with 15 chicks each. The groups were assigned to receive the treatment diets as follows: basal diet (control group) and control diet supplemented with 1.5% and 3% artichoke powder and 300 mg vitamin E. Body weight (BW), body weight gain (BWG), feed intake (FI), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were determined during the whole experimental period. The serum antibody level against Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV) was measured by hemagglutination-inhibition test (HI) in two periods after vaccination during days 14 and 28 and carcass traits of broilers were evaluated at the end of experiment. Results showed that, the titer against Newcastle virus at 42 days of age showed significant difference among treatments, the highest titer was found for the treatment containing 1.5% of the artichokes (p<0.05). Weight of internal organs, except pancreas weight, did not differ among treatments. Generally, this study showed the positive impact of artichoke on immune system of broiler chickens. Therefore it can be used in poultry nutrition.

The two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, is one of the most common and dangerous pests for agricultural crops worldwide. Frequent pesticide applications have caused development of resistance to pesticides, undesirable effects on non-target organisms and environmental pollutions. Plant essential oils have recently attracted particular attention as alternative agents of chemical pesticides because of lower risks for human and mammals, rapid biodegradation and less environmental hazards. In this study, contact toxicity of nine formulated compositions based on herbal essential oils including rosemary, pennyroyal, peppermint and cinnamon essential oils plus fruit extract of chinaberry by leaf dipping method were tested against female adults of T. urticae. Experiments were carried out at 25±1oC, 70±5% RH and under a photoperiod of 16L: 8D.Results showed that formulated composition based on fruit extract of chinaberry and rosemary and peppermint oils (chinaberry 5% + peppermint 2%+rosemary 2%) significantly had the highest lethal effect and lowest LC50 and LC90 values (3.399 and 10.102 ml/l, respectively) 24 h. after treatment, against the adults of T. urticae, indicating significant potential for two-spotted spider mite management.

Linum album Ky. ex Boiss., one of the endemic species in Iran, produces lignans such as podophyllotoxin (PTOX). This compound is precursor for three important anticancer drugs including etoposide, teniposide and etopophose. Chemical synthesis of these compounds is very complicated and this process is not economical. Improvement of PTOX production is possible by different strategies such as feeding, elicitation, genetic engineering, etc. Medium optimization is one of the strategies for increasing the production of secondary metabolites in cell culture. Regarding the remarkable value of PTOX as a precursor for three important anticancer drugs, in this study, the effect of different ratios of NH4+/NO3- in MS medium on cell growth and some of the of secondary metabolites including PTOX biosynthesis and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) activity were investigated. Results indicated that the cell growth was significantly increased when treated with 2:1 ratio of NO3/NH4+. The most phenolic and flavonoid content was obtained in control culture, having minimum biomass production. The 2:1 ratio of NH4+/NO3- resulted in highest production of flavonols. The highest production of PTOX was achieved by 3:1 ratio of NH4+/NO3-. Meanwhile, the highest PAL activity was observed in 2:1 and 3:1 ratio of NO3/NH4+ and 3:1 ratio of NH4+/NO3-, respectively. Therefore, it can be concluded that changing nutrient diet is an effective factor increasing the secondary metabolites in L. album.

Development and implementation of effective programs to conservation, reclamation and efficient utilization of valuable plant species seem to have a special importance. To achieve this goal, ecological characteristics of important plant species, forming natural vegetation, need to be detected and recognized. Withania coagulans (Stocks) Dunal, belonging to the Solanaceae family, has received much attention in recent years due to the presence of a large number of steroidal lactones, known as withanolides. One of the most important withanolides is withaferin A, having anticancer properties. To study the autecology of W. coagulans, its habitats in Sistan and Baluchestan region were identified and habit characteristics including climate, soil physical and chemical properties, altitude, slope gradient, aspect and phenological stage were investigated in several locations. Results showed that this plant is exclusively distributed in limited areas of the province. The climate of the study area is arid based on Demarton aridity index. Average annual rainfall is 124.8 mm with a relative humidity of 32% and average temperature of 24.2 Co. This species is mainly (45%) distributed at an altitude of 1200 to 1400 meters above sea level, in slopes, valleys, road edges and mainly in waterways and the bed of seasonal rivers and in all aspects particularly the South and a slope from zero to 74%. The soil texture of the study habits is predominantly sandy loam with a pH of 7.5-7.8, an EC of 0.5-5.2 ds/m and 8.4-23.1% lime. W. coagulans is a drought resistant species growing in arid climate conditions with an average annual rainfall of 150 mm. In general, essential measures need to be taken towards the conservation and distribution of this rare and valuable species.

This research was aimed to investigate the effects of different levels of manure, iron and zinc fertilizers on yield, yield components and essential oil percentage of cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.) in Jiroft during 2012-2013. The study was performed as factorial in a randomized complete blocks design with three factors and 18 treatments in three replications. Manure at two levels of zero and 150 ton ha-1, zinc sulfate at three levels of 0, 25, and 40 kg ha-1 and iron fertilizer at three levels of 0, 2.5, and 5 kgha-1 were applied. In this study, plant responses consisted of yield, shoot dry weight, plant height, number of seeds per plant, number of umbels, and 1000-seed weight. Results showed that manure, iron and zinc fertilizers at different levels affected shoot dry weight, yield, number of seeds per plant, number of umbels, plant height, 1000-seed weight, and essential oil percentage significantly at 1% level of significance. In addition, the interaction effects of manure and iron and zinc fertilizers were significant on shoot dry weight, yield, number of seeds per plant, and 1000-seed weight. According to the obtained results, a combined treatment of manure (15 ton ha-1), zinc sulfate (25 kg ha-1) and iron fertilizer (5kg ha-1) could be recommended to enhance the yield and yield components of cumin in Jiroft.

The genus Satureja belongs to the Lamiaceae family. Satureja macrantha C. A. Mey. is an aromatic plant growing wild in Zanjan, Kordestan, Hamedan, and Kermanshah provinces. In this research, to domesticate this species and study its essential oil content and composition, the seeds of four accessions were collected from natural habitats and cultivated in the research farm of Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands. The experiment was conducted in a randomized complete blocks design with three replications. To compare the essential oil yields and constituents, the aerial parts of each accession were collected in full flowering stage in three consecutive years. After drying in room temperature, the plant materials were subjected to hydro-distillation. The oil yields were calculated and the oil compositions were identified by GC and GC/MS analysis and retention indices. Results showed that the major compounds in all oils were recorded to be thymol, p-cymene and γ-terpinene with different percentages. However, carvacrol was also detected in the oils whose value was not considerable. In addition, the oil yields increased gradually with plant growth in all accessions. The quality of oils was also improved with plant aging, except for one accession, so that three- year old plants contained more oil and more phenolic compounds, thymol and carvacrol as compared to one-year old plants. The elimination and appearance of some minor components in the oils with plant aging showed that oil analysis at the first year of cultivation of an aromatic plant did not produce acceptable results. Therefore, to obtain reliable results, the oils should be studied in a few consecutive years.

The Diamond back moth Plutella xylostella L. is one of the major pests of plants in Brassicaceae that has become resistant to many insecticides. In recent years, plant secondary metabolites play an important role in controlling pests because of their insecticidal and antifeedant properties. A laboratory experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of methanolic extracts of Matteuccia struthiopteris (L.) on diamondback moth third instar larvae. Findings showed significant increase in mortality as concentrations increased, so that, concentrations to cause 25% (LC25) and 50% (LC50) mortality in population were 12.01% and 28.58%, respectively. In this research, the effect of sublethal concentration of methanolic extract was studied on demography parameters such as life table, reproductive and population of P. xylostella. The obtained results showed that different concentration had a significant effect on the duration of different life stage, fecundity and adult longevity. Data analysis demonstrated that increased concentration decreased the net reproductive rate (R0), intrinsic rate of natural increase (rm), finite rate of increase (λ) but increased mean generation time (T) and doubling time (DT) significantly. These findings indicate that M. struthiopteris has the potential to be used as a reliable method in integrated management of this pest.

The study was conducted to evaluate the effects of medicinal plants on growth performance, immune system and blood parameters of broilers. In this study, a total of 480 one-d-old male broiler chicks (Ross 308) were randomly allocated to eight experimental groups, each with three replications and 20 birds in each replicate. The basal diet was consumed with 15-ppm virginiamycin and the plant extracts of Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus L.), German chamomile (Matricaria chammomilla L.), Yarrow (Achillea millefolium L.), Iranian caraway (Bunium persicum (Boiss.) B. Fedtsch.), Garlic (Allium sativum L.) and licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra L.), at 0.1% in drinking water. At day 41, three birds of each experimental unit were bled to measure haematocrit, cholesterol, triglyceride, total protein, uric acid, LDL and HDL. The birds were vaccinated against Newcastle disease (ND) via drinking water at day 23 and blood samples were taken at days 34 and 41.The highest ND titer and antibody titer to SRBC was observed in German chamomile group and eucalyptus group (p<0.05), respectively. The highest level of serum triglyceride was observed in virginiamycin group at day 42; however, it was not statistically significant with control group (p<0.05). The lowest level of cholesterol was measured in garlic group (p<0.05), and the lowest level of LDL was determined in eucalyptus group (p<0.05).