Using plants and natural products as medicine is increasing every day. The reason might be a tendency that the societies mostly have toward natural and original products especially natural drugs. Essential oils are referred to aromatic composition found in different parts of a plant and can be used for different remedial and hygienic purposes. One of the plants which have been used a lot in folk medicine is Arctium lappa. This study is aimed at identifying the composition of its root and leaf essential oils. The essential oils from the roots and leaves of A. lappa (Asteraceae), collected from Mashhad (Farms of Agriculture School, Ferdowsi University), were extracted by hydrodistillation and then the composition was determined by GC/MS. Totally, 31 and 57 components (92. 4 and 93. 2% of essential oils of root and leaf) were identified, respectively. The root oil contains mainly 1, 3 cyclo-octadiene (33. 2%), E-caryophllene (6. 8%), β-selinene (5. 6%) and 9, 10-dehydro-isolongifolene (5. 5%), whilst β-thujone (11. 6%), caryophyllene oxide (8. 3%), cuminaldehyde (7. 7%), comphor (5. 3%), dihydroEdulan II (5. 3%), β-ionone (4. 7%), and α-Thujone (3. 4%) were major components in the leaf oil. Identification of the components was based on comparison of their mass spectra with standards. The chemical composition of essential oils from the herbs is being reported for the first time in Iran.

Arctium lappa is a medicinal plant of Asteraceae. Seeds have a little germination due to seed dormancy. In order to break dormancy and increase the germination of its seeds an experiment with 28 treatments in a completely randomized design with four replications (25 seeds). Treatments were consisting of chemical scarification with sulfuric acid solution 98% for 10 and 20 min, hormone treatments of 24 and 48 hours of Gibberellic acid (GA3) (300 & 500 ppm), moist prechilling for 7 and 14 days at +5 ° C temperature, and combined moist prechilling and hormonal treatments, hot water (70 ° C, for 10 and 15 min. ) humic acid (54 kg/L). Results showed that the effect of treatments on percentage and rate germination of Arctium lappa was significant (P≤ %5). The maximum coleoptile length, radicle length, seedling length, germination percentage and germination ratio was related to 14 days moist prechilling treatment with GA3 (500 ppm-48h) (98/78 %). On the basis of the results and with regard to the negative effect of H2SO4 and hot water on the consequential growth of seedlings, usage of 14 days moist prechilling accompanied with application of GA3 was appropriate.

Introduction: Arctium lappa (Great burduck) and Artemesia absinthium are medicinal plants that some of their antibacterial and antivirus properties have been suggested in nutritional industries. The objective of this research was to study the effects of A. lappa and A. absinthium on some microorganisms including Pseudomonads aeraginosa, Haemophilus influenza, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus cereus, Klebsiella pneumonia and Staphylococcus aureus.Methods: Extracts were prepared by maceration method and tested on Mueller Hinton agar medium based on disc diffusion method. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) were determined by micro-dilution method. Antibiotic disks used for controlling and standardizing the examination.Results: The extracts of A. lappa and A. absinthium had significant effect on S. aureus. The MIC and MBC concentrations of the extract of A. lappa on B. subtilis were respectively 600 and 750 mg/ml. Also, these values were 230 and 540 mg/ml for H. influenza. Extract of A. absinthium showed more inhibitory effect on B. subtilis. All extracts showed inhibitory effect on B. cereus. The extracts of A. lappa and A. absinthium had inhibitory effects on H. influenza and P. aeraginosa. Among antibiotics, only Ofloxacin and Ciprofloxacin had effects on H. influenza. Extract of A. lappa showed flimsy effect on K. pneumonia, while extract of A. absinthium had no effect on this bacterium.Conclusion: Due to the effects of A. lappa and A. absinthium on some bacteria, they might be good substitutes for synthetic substances.

Introduction: The present study aimed to assess the effect of Arctium lappa extract inoculated with Lactobacillus plantarum probiotic bacteria on fermented salted cabbage. In addition, the microbial, chemical, and sensory properties and survival experiment of the bacteria were evaluated during storage. Methods: Lactobacillus plantarum was used as a probiotic species in fermented cabbage. The effects of various levels of salt (1% and 1. 5%) and Burdock extract (2 and 4 mg/ml) were evaluated and compared with control samples (without the dandruff extract) with the inoculation of Lactobacillus plantarum probiotic bacteria as the starter. Results: Increased concentration of the Arctium lappa extract and minimum concentration of salts led to the significant reduction of yeasts and aerobic mesophyll (1. 5% salt and 4 mg/ml of the herbal extract). On the other hand, decreased concentration of salt and increased concentration of the Arctium lappa extract led to the increased viability of Lactobacillus, and the maximum survival of Lactobacillus plantarum was observed in the treatment with 1% salt and 4 mg/ml of the extract on day 21. Conclusion: According to the results, using Lactobacillus plantarum as the starter, along with salt and the Arctium lappa extract, could improve the microbial control of the fermentation process, while increasing the production of lactic acid and improving the acidity of the saline of salty cabbage.