Medicinal Plants
Faraj Moayedi; Sajad Kordi; Ali Ashraf Mehrabi; Soheila Dastborhan
Abstract
Introduction: Sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) is an annual herbaceous plant from labiatae family. The amount and chemical composition of essential oil of sweet basil depends on genetics, growing season, environmental factors and plant growth stage. Nitrogen is one of the most important nutrients required ...
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Introduction: Sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) is an annual herbaceous plant from labiatae family. The amount and chemical composition of essential oil of sweet basil depends on genetics, growing season, environmental factors and plant growth stage. Nitrogen is one of the most important nutrients required by plants. This element plays an essential role in the synthesis of amino acids and proteins and is part of the structure of leaf chlorophyll and some plant hormones. Nitrogen application can significantly increase the growth and yield of medicinal plants in different climatic conditions and affect the quantitative and qualitative properties of essential oils. The results of various studies have shown that nitrogen significantly alters the amount of essential oils in basil. Despite the positive effect of nitrogen on improving plant growth and yield, excessive use of nitrogen fertilizer can have a negative effect on the absorption of other elements. On the other hand, high amounts of water-soluble nitrogen lead to groundwater pollution. Therefore, determining the appropriate amount of nitrogen fertilizer in proportion to the nutritional needs of crops, in addition to improving the quantity and quality of yield, reduces damage to agricultural systems and the environment. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of different amounts of nitrogen fertilizer on vegetative yield and quantitative and qualitative characteristics of essential oil of four basil cultivars and to introduce the best cultivar in Khorramabad climate.Materials and Methods: This experiment was performed as a factorial split plot in time in a randomized complete block design with three replications during 2016 growing season in the Agricultural Research Station of Khorramabad. Experimental treatments included four sweet basil cultivars (Italian Large Leaf, Cinnamon, Sweet Thai and Mobarakeh), three levels of nitrogen fertilizer (0, 100 and 200 kg ha-1 chemical nitrogen fertilizer) and three harvests. Nitrogen fertilizer (from urea source) was added to the plots in two stages (half of the fertilizer before seeds planting and the rest after the first harvest) based on the treatments. Basil plants were harvested three times at the beginning of flowering. Traits measured in this study included chlorophyll index, leaf/stem ratio, leaf dry weight, total plant dry weight, percentage and yield of essential oil and determination of chemical composition of essential oil. To extract the essential oil, water distillation method and Clevenger apparatus were used. To determine the main constituents of essential oil, all treatments related to a given repetition were chosen in second harvest were used. Gas chromatography with mass spectrometer was used to identify the compounds of basil essential oil. Analysis of variance of data was done using SAS ver. 9 and mean comparison was performed based on the Duncan's multiple range test at 5% probability level using MSTAT-C software. Figures were drawn by excel software.Results and Discussion: The results of the present research showed that the highest leaf/stem ratio (1.8) was obtained from applying 100 and 200 kg ha-1 of urea fertilizer in Italian Large Leaf cultivar in the first harvest. Among the studied basil cultivars, Italian Large Leaf cultivar had the highest leaf dry weight, total dry weight, percentage of essential oil and essential oil yield. The maximum leaf chlorophyll index was related to Sweet Thai and Cinnamon cultivars and the minimum chlorophyll index, percentage of essential oil and essential oil yield was related to Mobarakeh cultivar. Consumption of urea fertilizer was associated with a significant improvement in vegetative growth and as a result, basil yield increased. Although the essential oil percentage of basil cultivars under control treatment was higher than plants that were fed with nitrogen fertilizer, but the highest essential oil yield was obtained from application of 100 kg ha-1 urea fertilizer, which shows the greater effect of dry yield on essential oil yield compared to the percentage of essential oil. In all studied traits, the maximum value was related to the second harvest and the minimum amount (except the essential oil percentage) was allocated to the first harvest. In chemical analysis of essential oils obtained from young leaves and shoots of basil cultivars under different fertilization treatments, 29 to 35 compounds were identified. The maximum concentration of major constituents of essential oils (except 1-8-cineol, methyl cinnamate and methyl chavicol) was related to the control treatment (no fertilizer application).Conclusion: Since there was no significant difference between the levels of 100 and 200 kg ha-1 of urea in terms of total dry weight and the highest essential oil yield was obtained from the treatment of 100 kg ha-1 of urea fertilizer, Italian Large Leaf cultivar and consumption of 100 kg ha-1 of urea fertilizer can be used in environmental conditions similar to Khorramabad.
Farnoosh Malekshahi; Ali Ashraf Mehrabi; Elahe Tavakol; Khosro Mehdikhanlo; Vahid Shariati
Abstract
Introduction: Basil genus (Ocimum) contains 30 to 150 species which grown in tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, Africa, Central and South America and found as a wild plant in these areas. In India, around 25,000 ha is under cultivation of Ocimum spp., with an annual production of about 250–300 ...
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Introduction: Basil genus (Ocimum) contains 30 to 150 species which grown in tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, Africa, Central and South America and found as a wild plant in these areas. In India, around 25,000 ha is under cultivation of Ocimum spp., with an annual production of about 250–300 tonnes of essential oil. Ocimum gratissimum L., a dicotyledonous shrub plant, which belongs to the Lamiaceae family, stands out for the quality, quantity and chemical diversity of the essential oils. These oils have been used in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food industries. Some of the essential oil compounds have antibacterial, insecticidal and antioxidant properties with high demand on the international market of the fine perfumery industry. It is also popularly used in herbal medicine for treating several diseases, such as upper respiratory tract infection, fever, cough, diarrhea and pneumonia. Being a short-duration economically viable medicinal and aromatic crop, clove basil has huge potential for large scale cultivation. Plant genetic has an important role in determining the type and amount of secondary metabolites of medicinal plants. Moreover, the recognition of species and genotypes with high genetic capability in the production of desired metabolites has been at the top of the plant breeding plans of medicinal plants. In addition, essential oil composition of plants may be affected by harvest time which is due to the impact of weather conditions on plant growth and development. The present study was aimed to evaluate the oil composition of two genotypes in two harvests. Materials and Methods: The research was conducted in the research farm of the college of agriculture, shahid Chamran University, Ahvaz, Iran during 2019. Two valuable genotypes of Ocimum gratissimum L. (278 and 296), with two different essential oil profiles, were investigated in two harvests; spring and autumn seasons. The aboveground parts of the plants were collected on June and November and dried on shade at room temperature. The essential oils of the plants were extracted by water distillation through Clevenger apparatus and the quantity and quality of the essential oils were analyzed by GC and GC-MS. Results and Discussion: The results of present study showed that the essential oil content of two genotypes was not affected by the harvest season while its amount was different in two genotypes. The essential oil content of genotype 296 was 2-fold of 278. According to the qualitative analysis of the essential oils, fifty compounds were identified in the essential oils of 278 and 296 genotypes. More than 98% of the identified compounds (in the essential oils of these two genotypes) were classified into five chemical classes; including hydrocarbon and oxygenated monoterpens, and hydrocarbon and oxygenated sesquiterpene and phenylpropanoids. The major constituent of the essential oil of genotype 278 was oxygenated monoterpene, thymol, on June (35.48 %) and November (45.85 %), which was not found in genotype 296. Gamma-terpinene was also significantly increased from June (13.15 %) to November (25.80 %). P-cymene (11.31-3.56 %), alpha- thujone (4.76-2.94 %), Germacrene D (3.73-2.76 %), caryophyllene E (3.66-1.51 %), myrcene (2.93-3.01 %), alpha-terpinene (2.63-3.38 %) and bourneol (2.28-0.71 %) were the remains of oil composition. Dihydro eugenol, which belongs to the chemical class of phenylpropanoids, was identified as the main essential oil components of genotype 296 which its amount was not affected by the harvest time. The other oil constituents were Beta (Z)-Ocimene (11.89-3.40 %), Germacrene D (3.58-2.80 %), and caryophyllene E (0.52-2.68 %). Conclusion: Terpenoids such as thymol are synthesized via the mevalonic acid pathway, and phenylpropanoid compounds such as dihydroeugenol and eugenol are synthesized via the shikimic acid pathway. The metabolite diversity across different species could be explained by the differential gene expression pattern. According to the results of the present study, thymol was identified as the main oil components of genotype 278. This may be due to the increased expression of mevalonate enzymes. The monoterpene was replaced by phenylpropanoid; dihydrogenugenol, in the oil of genotype 296 which might be due to more expression of the enzymes of the phenylpropanoid pathway. In the other hand, Thymol, P-cymene and gamma-terpinene in genotype 278 varied significantly in different harvesting times, indicating the effect of temperature on the activity of enzymes involved in the synthesis of essential oil components. On the contrary, the amount of dihydrogenugenol in genotype 278 on June and November is not affected by the environmental conditions in two seasons. With regard to the conclusions to the proper growth of genotype 278 and 296, as well several harvests annually, essential oil content and thymol and dihydrogenugenol, therefore, it is suggested that further research should be carried out for developing plant cultivation in Khuzestan and southern provinces which is not suitable for basil growth.
Faraj Moayedi; Sajad Kordi; Ali Ashraf Mehrabi; Soheila Dastborhan
Abstract
Introduction: Sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) is one of the oldest spices belongs to the Lamiaceae family. It is a herbaceous annual plant, which is native to subtropical regions of Asia, Africa, America. Basil is an important economic crop and widely used in the culinary arts, food processing and ...
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Introduction: Sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) is one of the oldest spices belongs to the Lamiaceae family. It is a herbaceous annual plant, which is native to subtropical regions of Asia, Africa, America. Basil is an important economic crop and widely used in the culinary arts, food processing and pharmaceutical industries. Nitrogen is one of the most important nutrients for plant production that plays a major role in photosynthetic activities and crop yield capacity and its availability affects plants growth and biochemical processes. Nitrogen deficiency is often a limiting factor in vegetable production such as sweet basil. Nitrogen usage significantly can be increased the herb yield of basil grown in different environmental conditions. The nutritional and environmental factors are the most important factors for growth of the medicinal plants. In the present research, changes in yield, nitrate content, essential oil yield and some physiological traits have been investigated in four cultivars of sweet basil under different levels of nitrogen.
Materials and Methods: A field experiment was carried out in the Agricultural Research Station of Khorramabad during 2016 growing season. The experimental factors were arranged as a factorial-split-plot in time experiment based on randomized complete blocks design with three replications. Experimental factors were cultivars of sweet basil (O.basilicum var Italian Large Leaf، O. basilicum var Mobarakeh, O. basilicum var Sweet Thai and O. basilicum var Cinnamon) and nitrogen fertilizer (0, 100 and 200 kg ha-1 urea) assigned to the main plots as factorial and different cuttings (three harvests from each plot) considered as sub-plots. The half amount of nitrogen (as urea; 46% N) was distributed in experimental plots before planting the seeds and the rest used after the first harvest. Seeds of sweet basil were planted at May, 25th 2016 as five rows with 2m length and each main plot area was 5 m2. The space between rows was 50 cm. All plots were irrigated immediately after sowing. Subsequent irrigations were carried out every four days. The control of weeds conducted manually during the experiment time. The sweet basil plants were harvested three times in early flowering stage in July 12, August 15 and September 25. Samples of 1 m length were taken from the center of two rows located in the middle of each plot. Plants were cut from above ground and transferred to the lab for measuring total dry yield. The measured traits in this study included branches per plant, inflorescences per plant, plant height, leaf percentage, total dry yield, essential oil yield, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll, carotenoid and nitrate content. SAS (version 9.1) and MSTAT-C statistical software were used to conduct analysis of variance (ANOVA) and comparison of means, respectively. The Duncan's multiple range test, at 5% probability level, was used to rank the differences among means.
Results and Discussion: The results indicated that the application of nitrogen fertilizer significantly improved all the studied traits. The highest and the lowest essential oil yield belonged to 100 kg ha-1 urea and control, respectively. Nitrogen fertilizer by providing the nitrogen needed for the basil plant during the growing season provides a favorable environment for the production of further biomass. Total dry weight of the all basil cultivars increased with application of nitrogen fertilizer in all harvests. The highest total dry weight and nitrate concentrations were achieved by Italian largel cultivar with application of 200 kg ha-1 urea in the second harvest. The increment in total dry weight of basil by application of nitrogen fertilizer could be attributed to the increment in chlorophyll content and better growth of plants and subsequently the better canopy development which ultimately leads to the better usage of solar irradiance, higher photosynthesis and finally higher dry weight in basil plants. Application of nitrogen chemical fertilizer could increase essential oil yield of sweet basil, mainly due to the increasing of total dry weight.
Among basil cultivars, Italian large leaf cultivar had the highest leaf percentage and essential oil yield compared to the other cultivars. The lowest number of branches per plant, number of inflorescences per plant, leaf percentage, essential oil yield and total chlorophyll belonged to Mobarakeh cultivar. All the evaluated parameters were lower than the first harvest except leaf percentage and chlorophyll content.
Conclusion: According to the results, application of nitrogen fertilizer had a positive effect on growth, and consequently led to increase the plant vegetative yield. Due to the fact that in terms of more of the studied traits there was no significant difference between application of 100 and 200 kg ha-1 urea fertilizer and also reduce the consumption of chemical fertilizers generating pollution, Italian large leaf cultivar and application of 100 kg ha-1 urea are recommended to access an acceptable growth and quantitative and qualitative yield in sweet basil under the environmental conditions similar to Khorramabad.
Monireh Marsafari; Ali Ashraf Mehrabi; Zahra Tahmasebi; Abdolamir Rahnama
Abstract
This study was performed for assessment of correlation of 11 morphological traits with RAPD molecular markers in 15 cultivars of date palm collected from the South and South West of Iran as population analysis by stepwise regression method. The results of simple and multiple regressions showed that in ...
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This study was performed for assessment of correlation of 11 morphological traits with RAPD molecular markers in 15 cultivars of date palm collected from the South and South West of Iran as population analysis by stepwise regression method. The results of simple and multiple regressions showed that in sum 84 RAPD markers had significant association with at least one of the traits. The coefficient of determination of all informative marker ranged from 32.0 (for stone diameter) to 75.6 (for fruit shape).The highest coefficient belonged to Oligo 215 primer in stone diameter traits (26%) and then Oligo 211 primer in fruit shape trait (24.1) as captain markers. Considerable number of morphological changes was justified by Oligo 42 that polymorphic information was content 0.23. These results showed that with regards to good distribution of random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) in date genome and the markers with high association with agronomic characters, they can be used in identification of informative markers linked to important agronomic characters.
