IRANIAN JOURNAL OF MEDICINAL AND AROMATIC PLANTS
Year:2018 | Volume:33 | Issue:6 (86) |Papers Count:16

In order to evaluate the effect of plant density on quantitative and qualitative yield of three species of Thymus under dry farming conditions in Tehran (Damavand), Kurdistan and Kermanshah provinces, an experiment was conducted in a randomized block design based on split plot with three replications during three years (2009-2011). The treatments were included three species (T. vulgaris L., T. daenensis Celak. and T. kotschyanus Boiss. & Hohen. ) and three planting densities (4, 6 and 8 plant/m2), which were considered as main and sup-plots, respectively. Shoot dry matter yield, essential oil content, yield and essential oil components were determined. Results showed that the four-interaction effect (density, species, year and province) was significant on dry matter content, calculated to be from 75 to 5172 kg/h in different treatments. The maximum dry matter yield was observed at a density of 6 plant/m2 for T. daenensis in Kermanshah in the third year of experiment. The highest essential oil yield was obtained at a density of 8 plant/m2 for T. daenensis in Kermanshah in the second year of experiment. The maximum thymol content (80. 33%) was related to T. daenensis in Damavand at a density of 6 plant/m2 in the third year of experiment. Overall, high production capacity of T. daenensis in the study provinces indicates the adaptation and economic yield of this native and valuable species.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of different levels of Rosemary (0, 100 and 200 mg per kg) and peppermint (0, 100 and 200 mg per kg) essential oils on performance, internal organs and some blood indices using360 one-day old quail. The experiment was conducted in a 3×3 factorial arrangement based on a completely randomized design with nine treatments and four replications (10 birds per repetition). The results showed that the consumption of highest level of rosemary essential oil caused the increased feed consumption during week 2 of age (P<0. 05). Peppermint essential oils affected the feed consumption during week 4 of age (P<0. 05) and the quails fed with the medium peppermint essential oil (100 ppm) had the lower feed conversion ratio as compared to the other levels. Moreover, the results of the experiment showed that consumption of rosemary and peppermint essential oils alone or together had no effects on the breast, thigh, liver and spleen weights (P>0. 05). The essential oils of rosemary and peppermint plants did not change the blood indices of triglyceride, protein, urea, creatinine and HDL (P>0. 05). There was a trend for the effect of rosemary essential oil on length of both jejunum and ileum (P=0. 09) and the 100 and 200 ppm rosemary caused the higher length of both jejunum and ileum at day 35 of age. In conclusion, the consumption of rosemary and peppermint essential oils improved the performance of quails in the early ages.

In order to evaluate the effects of different fertilizer systems and irrigation water on some phytochemical characteristics of Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L. ), a field experiment was conducted at the University of Jiroft during 2013 and 2014. The study was conducted as split plot based on a randomized complete blocks design with three replications. Three irrigation levels (100%, 80% and 60% of crop water requirement) were assigned as main plot factor. Four fertilizers including mycorrhiza, vermicompost, cow manure, and chemical fertilizer (NPK) were allocated as sub plot factor. The results indicated that fertilizer treatments and different irrigation water levels had significant effect on total phenol, anthocyanin, acidity of calyx, seed protein and seed oil. The highest and lowest anthocyanin (3. 05 and 2. 78 ml. gr-1), total phenol (12. 52 and 12. 90 ml. gr-1) and acidity of calyx (0. 81 and 0. 87 gr. 100 gr dry weight) belonged to vermicompost and cow manure. Also, 60% and 100% crop water requirement produced the highest and lowest anthocyanin (3 and 2. 19 ml. gr-1), total phenol (13. 04 and 10. 81 ml. gr-1) and seed protein (20. 90% and 20. 01%). Furthermore, the interaction effect of fertilizer systems and irrigation levels had a significant effect on anthocyanin content. The interaction effect of irrigation levels and year had a significant effect on oil seed. Vitamin C was not affected by experimental treatments.

In order to study the essential oil content and composition of different accessions of Anthemis haussknechtii Boiss. & Reut, the seeds were collected from Kordestan, west Azarbaijan, Ilam and Fars provinces and sown at Alborz research station during 2013-2014. In the flowering stage, the flowering shoots were harvested and air died. The essential oil was obtained by hydro-distillation method and analyzed and identified by GC and GC/MS. Results showed that the essential oil yield of Piranshar and Darehshahr was 0. 2% and 0. 03%, respectively. Twenty eight components were identified in eight accessions and differed in number, type and percentage. The main components of essential oils were spathulenol in Darehshahr, Ghorveh, Divandareh2, Ivan, Piranshahr and Sanandaj (19. 1, 18. 1, 16. 2, 14. 5, 13. 8 and 12. 2 percent, respectively), caryophyllen oxide in Darehshahr, Ghorveh, Divandareh2, Fars and Divandareh1 (20. 5, 13. 2, 12. 9, 12. 4 and 12. 2 percent, respectively) and globulol in Ivan, Divandareh2 and Ghorveh (12. 0, 11. 5 and 11. 2 percent, respectively). Cluster analysis showed that eight essential oils of different populations were classified into three categories including Piranshahr-Fars, Ghorveh-Darehshahr and others. According to the results, to obtain some high-percentage components, it is essential to extract the essential oil from a specific population.

Withania coagolense (Stocks) Dun. is a perennial shrub, belonging to the Solanaceae family. The study species is rich in a group of valuable compounds as steroidal lactones called withanolides. Nowadays, significant pharmacological properties of withanolides have been reported. The effects of mycorrhizal fungi symbiosis and substrate were studied on withania in the greenhouse of Agricultural Institute at the University of Zabol. The study was conducted in a factorial experiment based on a completely randomized design. The main plot was substrate (cocopit + perlit, garden soil+ manure, sand) and the subplot consisted of mycorrhizal fungi (control, Glomus intraradice, G. mosseae, simultaneous use of both fungi). Phytochemical analysis of the extract was performed by HPLC. Statistical analysis was done using Excel and SPSS software. The results indicated that the garden soil+ manure and simultaneous use of both fungi had the best effect on increased shoot length and fresh and dry weight. According to the results, the garden soil+ manure resulted in increased production of secondary metabolites. The simultaneous use of both fungi resulted in higher production of secondary metabolites (except withastramonolid and coagolin). Our results clearly showed that the simultaneous use of both fungi in garden soil+ manure resulted in increased morphological traits and withastramonolid in the study specie.

Glycyrrhiza glabra L. (Licorice) is a perennial shrub growing in Mediterranean region and Asia and is widespread in Turkey, Italy and specially Iran. Licorice is a favorable herb used in food and medicinal remedies for thousands of years. This herb contains a variety of substances, among which glycyrrhizin is the most effective substance, giving a sweet taste to the root (30 to 50 times sweeter than sucrose). The roots of the study species were collected from the Kurdistan Agricultural Research and Education Center. All samples were dried and then powdered to extract the glycyrrhizin with different methods including modified Rosen, pre ultrasonic and post ultrasonic methods at 30 and 60 minutes, ultrasound frequencies of 35 and 100 kHz and a constant temperature of 60⁰ C. The results showed that there were significant differences among the study treatments (P<0. 01). The highest and lowest purity and extraction yield efficiency were obtained from the post ultrasonic (100 kHz and 60 m) and modified Rosen's method, respectively.

Lavandula stricta Del. is a native aromatic plant in Iran from Lamiaceae, traditionally used for treatment of rheumatic and stomach pain and cough. In usual agricultural systems, the purpose of using fertilizers and their combination is to obtain the highest seed yield and quality of the active substances. This study was aimed to compare the effects of nanofertilizer and fertilizer on growth indices, morphological and biochemical properties of lavender "Upright" (Lavandula stricta Del. ) regenerated from seed and tissue culture. The experiment was conducted as factorial design based on randomized complete block design with three replications and four experimental units at the research farm of Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, during the growing season of 2016-2017. The treatments were two plants with different regeneration methods (seeds and tissue culture) and various types of fertilizers (control or no fertilizer, NPK fertilizer at concentrations of 10 and 20 kg per hectare and nanofertilizer at concentrations of 10 and 20 kg ha). The results showed that fertilizer treatments had significant effects on all measured properties except leaf area, shoot height, internodes length, shoot fresh and dry weight, 1000-seed weight and total phenol content (P<0. 01). The type of plant also caused differences in biochemical, developmental and morphological properties except shoot height, number of main stem, shoot fresh and dry weight, and 1000-seed weight. Interaction effect of fertilizer and type of plant was significant for all measured properties except shoot height, shoot fresh weight and 1000-seed weight. In general, the results showed that application of NPK nano fertilizer had positive effect on the growth of tissue culture plants and resulted in improved yield.

This study was aimed to evaluate various ecotypes of Silybum marianum L., collected from different parts of Iran, as well as the Budakalasz variety and two ecotypes from England. The experiment was performed in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) in the agricultural farm of the Ramin Agriculture and Natural Resources University of Khuzestan. The evaluated traits included yield, yield components, and morphological and phenological traits. Analysis of variance showed statistically significant difference among the traits except phenological traits. Molasani 2 and Shush 2 with 4. 2 and 1. 7 tons/hectare had the highest and lowest yield, respectively. In addition, the yield of Budakalasz variety was estimated to be 2. 2 tons/hectare. The smallest canopy among the study ecotypes belonged to Shush 2. Among the phenological traits studied, only the flowering period was statistically different (α <0. 05) among the ecotypes. The number of capitula per plant, number of seeds per main capitula and 1000-seed weight according to stepwise regression and path analysis were the most effective traits on yield. Days to stem elongation indirectly influenced the yield via its effects on the number of capitula per plant and the seed number of main capitula. A total of 97 percent of yield variance was explained by four variables entered in the regression model. The resulted dendrogram based on squared Euclidean distance and Ward’ s algorithm divided ecotypes into three main clusters. This grouping did not perfectly match with the geographical distribution pattern. The results indicated that there was high diversity in the morphological traits of milk thistle ecotypes, so that the ecotypes could be applied in breeding programs.

Both Centaurea pterocaula Trautv. and Centaurea urvillei DC. are a type of cornflower. The aim of this study is to determine the chemical composition of essential oils of C. urvillei and C. pterocaula for food, cosmetics-health industry and medicinal uses. The plant parts of C. urvillei and C. pterocaula were collected at flowering stage from Urmia (Ghasemloo Valley) and Zanjan in 2010 and 2011. The plant parts including stem, leaf and inflorescence were dried in laboratory and crushed to particles. The essential oils were obtained by hydrodistillation and were analyzed by GC-FID and GC/MS. The essential oil yield of stem plus leaf and inflorescence of Centaurea pterocaula (w/w dried weight) were 0. 06% and 0. 09%, respectively. The major constituents of stem plus leaf and inflorescence essential oils were germacrene D (20. 4% and 5. 4%), thymol (10. 6% and 3. 8%), cyperene (3. 5% and 11. 5%), spathulenol (7. 7% and 4. 9%), caryophyllene oxide (6. 8% and 13. 4%) and -caryophyllene (4. 9% and 8. 1%), respectively. The essential oil yield of stem plus leaf and inflorescence of Centaurea urvillei (w/w dried weight) were 0. 023% and 0. 065%, respectively. The major constituents of stem plus leaf oils were benzyl benzoate (38. 7%), caryophyllene oxide (17. 9%) and -eudesmol (19. 8%) and the major constituents of inflorescence oil were caryophyllene oxide (25. 7%), spathulenol (14. 8%) and eudesma-4(15)-7-dien-1-β-ol (21. 0%).

This research was aimed to investigate the foliar application of selenium, boron and iron on leaf yield, the photosynthetic pigments rate, antioxidant enzymes activity and the steviol glycosides content under sodium chloride stress conditions. The study was conducted in a factorial experiment in Anzali of Guilan Province based on a completely randomized design in three replications in 2105-16. The salinity stress levels were used by sodium chloride at four levels: control (less than 10), 30, 60 and 90 mM, and the foliar application of iron, boron, and selenium was applied. The results showed that the effect of salinity stress and foliar application was significant on the leaf yield, the chlorophyll pigments rate (a, b and total), carotenoid, protein content, antioxidant activity catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POX), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and the steviol glycosides composition. The highest total chlorophyll content, chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b were obtained in the integrated application of iron, boron and selenium in free-salinity conditions (with means of 39. 48, 24. 86 and 14. 63 mg/g fresh weight, respectively). The highest protein content was observed in the foliar application of iron and selenium at 90 mM NaCl, resulted in an increase of 5. 3 times compared to the control treatment. The highest CAT and SOD activities were in the integrated foliar application of three elements and selenium and iron composition at salinity level of 90 mM, increasing the activity of these enzymes by approximately 130 and 11 times, respectively. The highest and lowest rates of rebaudioside A, stevioside, and rebaudioside C were obtained in the integrated application of three elements (iron, boron, and selenium) at salinity levels of 30 mM and non-spraying in 90 mM salinity, respectively. Generally, to achieve a higher amount of steviol glycosides, the integrated application of three elements iron, boron, and selenium and salinity stress up to 30 mM is recommended.

In order to study the effects of organic and bio-fertilizers application on flower yield, yield components and essential oil quality of marigold (Calendula officinalis L. ), an experiment was conducted as randomized complete blocks design with six treatments and three replications at Sohanak in Tehran of Iran in 2014. The treatments were 6 t/ha vermicompost, 12 t/ha vermicompost, 18 t/ha vermicompost, 6 t/ha vermicompost + nitroxin, 12 t/ha vermicompost + nitroxin and 18 t/ha vermicompost + nitroxin. The results showed that treatments had significant effects on studied traits (except essential oil content), as the highest flower no. /plant, dry weight of flower, dried yield of flower, essential oil yield and α-cadinol percent in essential oil in treatment of application of 6 t/ha vermicompost and the highest gamma cadinene percent and muurolene in essential oil in treatment of integrated application of 6 t/ha vermicompost and nitroxin were obtained. Also, the highest dry weight of plant and viridiflorene percent in essential oil in treatment of application of 12 t/ha vermicompost and the highest cadinene percent in essential oil in treatment of application of 18 t/ha vermicompost were obtained. Generally, the highest flower and essential oil yields and α-cadinol percent in essential oil with application of 6 t/ha vermicompost were obtained.

In order to investigate the effects of drought stress and nitrogen fertilizer on some physiological and biochemical characteristics of basil (Ocimum basilicum L. ), a split-plot experiment was conducted based on randomized complete block design in three replications in the research farm of Islamic Azad University, Ardabil Branch, 2015. The treatments included drought stress (70, 140 and 210 mm of class A evaporation pan) and nitrogen fertilizer at three levels (0, 50 and 100 kg/hectare) respectively. The results showed that the effect of drought stress treatment was significant on the traits investigated. The interaction of drought stress × nitrogen fertilizer had a significant effect on the traits measured, such as chlorophyll a, total chlorophyll, relative water content, dry matter yield, and essential oil yield. In addition, fertilizer treatment caused a significant increase in the physiological characteristics, dry matter yield, and essential oil yield. According to the results, the maximum content of chlorophyll a (2. 65 mg/g fresh weight), total chlorophyll (3. 42 mg/g fresh weight), relative water content (72. 02 percent), dry matter yield (2261. 25 kg/hectare), and essential oil yield (7. 13 kg/hectare) were obtained for the control treatment and 100 kg of nitrogen per hectare. The maximum content of carbohydrates (3. 40 μ g/g glucose per fresh weight) and proline (0. 681 μ mol/g fresh weight) was related to the severe stress treatment. The content of chlorophyll a, b, total, relative water content, carotenoid, and essential oil percent and yield decreased by increasing the drought stress, while the content of carbohydrate and proline increased. Therefore, irrigation at 70 mm evaporation and 100 kg nitrogen fertilizer per hectare could be recommended as the best treatment to achieve the highest levels of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll total, relative water content, dry matter yield, and essential oil yield of basil.

In order to study the effects of different amounts of humic acid fertilizer on morphological characteristics, yield components and essential oil yield of German chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L. ) under low irrigation stress, a research was carried out in the Agricultural Research Farm of Lorestan University during 2016-2017. The experiment was conducted in a split plot based on randomized complete block design with three replications. The experimental factors included irrigation at three levels (irrigation after 30, 60 and 90 mm evaporation from class A evaporation pan as the main factor) and consumption of humic acid at three levels (0, 5 and 10 kg /ha as sub factor). The results showed that with increasing irrigation interval, the flower fresh weight, flower dry weight, receptacle diameter, stem height and stem diameter were significantly decreased. With increasing levels of humic acid, flower harvest index, root dry weight, biological yield, essential oil yield, chamazulene yield, chlorophyll content (a, b and total) showed significant increase at all irrigation levels. In the case of flower harvest index, there was no significant difference in irrigation after 90 mm evaporation in humic acid treatments. The highest seed yield was obtained in irrigation after 60 mm evaporation and using 5 kg/ha humic acid. The highest yield of essential oil and chamazulene was obtained in irrigation after 60 mm evaporation and using humic acid at a rate of 10 kg/ha. According to the results, irrigation after 60 mm evaporation with 10 kg of humic acid per hectare is suggested for the production of maximum essential oil and chamazulene. As well, the same irrigation level with 5 kg/ha humic acid could be recommended to produce maximum seed yield.

Henabne (Hyoscyamus reticulatus L. ) is a rich source of tropane alkaloids including hyoscyamine (Hyos) and scopolamine (SCP), widely used in pharmaceutical field. The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of different concentrations (0, 50, 100 and 200 μ M) of methyl jasmonate (MeJA) at two different times of exposure (24 and 48 h) on growth, antioxidant enzymes activity, tropane alkaloids content, and the expression level of hyoscyamine-6-beta-hydroxylase (h6h) gene in H. reticulatus hairy root cultures. The results showed that MeJA at high concentration (200 μ M) led to the decline of fresh and dry weight of hairy roots. Catalase (CAT), guaiacol peroxidase (GPX) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activities were significantly increased by MeJA, especially at 200 μ M in elicited hairy roots. As well, CAT and GPX activities, but not of APX, were also affected by exposure time of MeJA. According to the GC/MS analysis, the highest percentage of SCP (13. 96%) and Hyos (21. 9%) were respectively obtained when hairy roots were exposed to MeJA at concentrations of 100 and 200 μ M for 48 and 24 h, which were, respectively, 1. 6-and 1. 25-fold higher than those in the control roots. According to the results of semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis, the highest expression of h6h gene (6-fold higher than in the control) was obtained after 24 h exposure to 100 μ M MeJA. These results indicate that MeJA, due to stimulation of the expression of key genes involved in the biosynthetic pathway of tropane alkaloids, could be used as an effective elicitor for increased production of Hyos and SCP.