Medicinal Plants
V. Akbarpour; M. Motaharinezhad; M. A. Bahmanyar
Abstract
Introduction
Nowadays, spraying method is used in plant nutrition to optimize the use of chemical fertilizers and reduce environmental hazards. With the foliar solution, the elements are quickly transferred to the plant and delivered to the branch, leaf, or fruit. Surveys show that increase performance ...
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Introduction
Nowadays, spraying method is used in plant nutrition to optimize the use of chemical fertilizers and reduce environmental hazards. With the foliar solution, the elements are quickly transferred to the plant and delivered to the branch, leaf, or fruit. Surveys show that increase performance per unit area is one of the most important things that has attracted the attention of many researchers. The first requirement for high performance is high dry matter production per unit area. Some experiments have shown that increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the air can increase yield, accelerate flowering and accumulate carbohydrates in plants. One of the solutions to increase carbon dioxide concentrations in plants is to use compounds such as ethanol and methanol. Therefore feeding plants with alcohols such as ethanol and methanol as carbon sources is one of the appropriate methods to increase their quantitative and qualitative properties.
Materials and Methods
Due to the importance of peppermint (Mentha piperita L.) in the production of valuable secondary metabolites, and also the effect of ethanol and methanol on some morphological and physiological parameters of this plant, a pot experiment was conducted in factorial based on completely randomized design with three replications in the research greenhouse of Shahed University in 2018. Foliar treatments included different concentrations of 0, 15, 30 and 45% ethanol, methanol and combine them that was done in three stages. The studied traits were plant height, number of leaves per plant, biological yield, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll, carotenoid, flavonoid, essential oil percentage, essential oil yield and protein percentage. Data analysis was performed using SAS statistical software (version 9.2) and mean treatments were compared by LSD test. Also charts were drawn by excel software.
Results and Discussion
The results showed that the simple effects of ethanol and methanol on plant height, biological yield, flavonoid content, essential oil percentage, essential oil yield and protein percentage were significant but their interactions were not significant. Ethanol 45% had the most effect on percentage and yield of essential oil and protein percentage. But the use of 15% ethanol treatment had the highest value in other traits (plant height, total phenol and flavonoids), which was at a statistical level with 45% methanol treatment. Also interaction between ethanol and methanol on leaf number per plant, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll and carotenoid was significant at 1% probability level. The highest number of leaves per plant and chlorophyll a (29.55 µg/g fresh leaf weight) was observed in the combination of 15% ethanol and 15% methanol, while the highest amount of chlorophyll b (20.86 µg/g fresh leaf weight) and total chlorophyll (49.85 µg/g fresh leaf weight) was related to the combined application of 15% ethanol and 45% methanol.
Conclusion
Foliar spraying is one of the methods of fertilization and supply of nutrients to plants that due to high absorption rate nutrients can be made available to plants in the shortest time. The results of this study showed that all the studied traits were significantly affected by one or more of the ethanol and methanol treatments. Therefore, the foliar application of ethanol and methanol as carbon sources has an important role in improving the qualitative and quantitative parameters of peppermint.
Breeding and Biotechnology of Plant and Flower
F. Bidarnamani; S. N. Mortazavi; Y. Shiri
Abstract
Introduction
Phalaenopsis is one of the beautiful and commercial species of orchid family that there is little research on its medicinal properties. Phalaenopsis orchids can be grown outdoors in warm, humid conditions that are damp but not wet, in a location that is shady but bright. Since the ...
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Introduction
Phalaenopsis is one of the beautiful and commercial species of orchid family that there is little research on its medicinal properties. Phalaenopsis orchids can be grown outdoors in warm, humid conditions that are damp but not wet, in a location that is shady but bright. Since the introduction of orchid meristem culture in 1960, branching in micro-propagation methods develop based on using two clearly different culture schemes. It have been used from medicinal properties of orchids for anti-rheumatic, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, anti-cancer, anti-seizure, diuretic, nutrient protection, relaxation, anti-aging, wound healing, hypoglycemia, anti-tumor, antimicrobial, antibacterial, anti-oxidants and anti-diarrhea.
Material and Methods
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the canonical correlation between morphological and phytochemical characteristics of five phalaenopsis orchid varieties: Nottingham, Bucharest, Andorra, Memphis, and Dubrovnik. Micro-propagation of orchid seeds was performed after sterilization of capsules by bleach and ethanol. Leaf and root organs of 5 orchid varieties were harvested from Chen medium in Institute of Agricultural Research, University of Zabol, on 2020. The sliced samples were dried in an oven at 50 °C for 72 hours, after separating the leaves and roots of each variety. The powdered leaves and roots of each variety (5 g) were separately immersed in 50 ml of ethanol for 24 hours at room temperature. Then the extracts were placed on a shaker at room temperature at 120 rpm.
Result and Discussion
The results showed that the first two canonical variables were significant and third variable was not significant. The first canonical variable has the highest special value of 65.83 and the second and third canonical variables have 4.59 and 0.10 special values, respectively. According to this research the first canonical variable with the highest special values, square of canonical correlation and the most cumulative percentages should be studied in all morphological and phytochemical characteristics. Significant canonical correlation in morphological characteristics fit 94% of the total variance of physiological variables, while significant canonical variables in phytochemical characteristics fit 100% of the variance of phytochemical characteristics. Due to the fact that phalaenopsis orchid flower has many leaf and root wastes, the findings of this study show that due to the medicinal properties of this plant, we can reduce the waste of this plant in greenhouses and production centers of this flower. In this study, the amount of phenol, flavonoid and antioxidants were determined. Also the relationship between morphological and phytochemical traits showed that this plant has medicinal properties. The lowest number of leaves belongs to Memphis variety and the highest number of leaves belongs to Nottingham variety, among the studied varieties. Therefore, it can be concluded that the roots are longer and shorter in orchid varieties with white (Nottingham) and purple (Memphis) flower respectively. Also, the second focal variable of root trait with the highest coefficient had a negative correlation with the number of leaves and root length, which shows that in the second correlation of the number of leaves and root length, the number of roots will decrease. In the second focal variable, the number of roots had a positive focal correlation with leaf length. That is, the closer we get to the second center of correlations between morphological traits, the more direct and positive becomes the relationship between root number and leaf length traits.
Conclusion
According to the results and high percentage of fitness in phytochemical characteristics, it can be concluded that phytochemical traits can more precisely express the correlation between the traits. Also it showed significance of canonical correlation between two variable groups, the relationship between phytochemical and morphological traits of five varieties of phalaenopsis orchid. In general, the results of this study showed orchid varieties have high phenolic and flavonoid compounds and have the highest restraint power of free radical in canonical correlation, and they can be used as medicine. In this study, it was found that Phalaenopsis orchid varieties had phenolic content and good antioxidant capacity relatively and there was a high positive correlation between morphological and phytochemical traits and enhanced with adding the plant's length or number of leaves containing phytochemical compounds. Also, according to the results of this study and similar findings in other research, it was found that the production of secondary metabolites of orchids and other plants under the influence of genetic and environmental conditions can affect the production and amounts of chemical compounds and medicinal performance of plants.
Medicinal Plants
Zhaleh Zandavifard; Majid Azizi
Abstract
Introduction: St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum L.) is a medicinal plant which used mainly in treatment of mild depression, neurological disorders and has been recently shown to have anticancer potential. The principle medicinal components of St. John’s wort are hypericin, pseudohypericin, ...
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Introduction: St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum L.) is a medicinal plant which used mainly in treatment of mild depression, neurological disorders and has been recently shown to have anticancer potential. The principle medicinal components of St. John’s wort are hypericin, pseudohypericin, and hyperforin. Light is one of the most important environmental factors affecting plant growth, survival, reproduction and distribution. The light quality, light intensity, duration and photoperiod directly affect plant growth. Light quality refers to the color or wavelength reaching the plant's surface. A prism (or raindrops) can divide sunlight into respective colors of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Red and blue have the greatest impact on plant growth. Green light is least effective (the reflection of green light gives the green color to plants). Blue light is primarily responsible for vegetative leaf growth. The principle objective of the current study was to evaluate the effects of different spectral quality including red, blue, green and white on the growth factors and production of hypericin.Materials and Methods: This experiment was conducted on the basis of Completely Randomized Design with four treatments and 10 replications in the growth chamber in the Department of Horticulture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (FUM), Iran. In this study, seeds were obtained from the research greenhouse of FUM. Seeds after soaking in running water for 24 hours were planted in small pots (250g). After the seedlings have reached to height of 25cm, each 10 pots were put inside the boxes (20×30cm) made of colored filters. Experiment continued in a growth chamber with day and night temperature 25 and 21°C, respectively, relative humidity 45%, 16 hours of light with the intensity of 1000 lux and 8 hours of darkness for 50 days. Then morphological parameters including plant height, number of stems, number of leaves, number and length of internodes, fresh and dry weight of shoot and root were measured. To count the number of black nodules, the upper, middle and lower parts of seedling were evaluated individually. Hypericin content of the H. perforatum plantlets were measured according to the previous work of Azizi & Omidbaigi, 2002. Data were analyzed statistically by using SAS and Excel software. The significant differences between means were assessed by Tukeyʼs test at P < 0.05.Results and Discussion: The results showed that morphological parameters including plant height, leaf number, internode length, root fresh weight, dry weight of stem and root were affected significantly by light treatments. Minimum and maximum of plant height was related to white and red lights, respectively. Increasing plant height under the influence of red light was due to the variation in levels of growth regulators. Red and blue light by changing of the GA hormone level in the plant and affected elongation of plant stem. Minimum and maximum of leaf number was related to blue and white light respectively. Also, other morphological traits including internode length, fresh and dry weights of stem and root showed significant differences. Internode length for white light was less than red, green and blue light. Maximum of the fresh and dry weight of shoot and root of seedlings was observed under white light. Results suggest that photosynthetic compounds move in plant under the influence of light quality. Also the number of black nodules in three different parts of plant and hypericin content were compared in plantlets under the effect of light quality. Results analysis also confirmed that different lights had the significant impact on the number of black nodules in upper and middle leaves of H. Perforatum seedlings. Seedlings treated with the red light had the highest number of black nodules in the middle section of H. perforatum. In the top third of St. John’s wort seedlings, red, blue and green light was inducted the highest number of black nodules formation than white light. The highest level of hypericin was related to red, white, blue and green lights, respectively. The number of black nodules in the plant and the hypericin content have positive correlation. It seems that in the seedlings treated with the red light, carbohydrates made from photosynthesis most used in biosynthesis of secondary metabolites than plant growth. In fact, carbon allelochemical compounds such as terpenes and phenolics have such metabolism direction to explain the increasing in secondary metabolites.Conclusion: Different light spectra affects plant hormones levels and with alteration in the primary and secondary metabolites lead to a change in the morphological and biochemical traits of plant. In general, it can commented that the quantity and quality of light is able to affect the growth and the active metabolites of medicinal plants and using red and white mixture of light during seedling growth period have an effective role on generation of more strong seedlings with higher potential production of active ingredients.
Farnaz Moghadami; Khodayar Hemmati; Vahid Akbarpour
Abstract
Introduction: Citrus is in the first rank in the world with respect to production among fruits. They are grown commercially in more than 50 countries around the world. Several factors such as rootstock, nutrition and irrigation regimes, cultivation design and etc. may affect the promotion of quality ...
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Introduction: Citrus is in the first rank in the world with respect to production among fruits. They are grown commercially in more than 50 countries around the world. Several factors such as rootstock, nutrition and irrigation regimes, cultivation design and etc. may affect the promotion of quality and quantity of fruits. Lemon fruits are among the most valuable functional diets shown to lower oxidative-related disease risks, particularly cardiovascular disease. A well-documented characteristic of these fruits is the accumulation of high amounts of glycoside flavonones, named hesperidin in the fruits. Several recent studies have demonstrated that the cytoprotective action of citrus fruits is enhanced by the presence of antioxidants including vitamin C, phenolics, carotenoids and flavonoids. Hesperidin and its metabolites significantly have been found to lower the total cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations in plasma. Hesperidin acts as a chemopreventive agent against colon carcinogenesis induced by azoxymethane. Lemons are one of the citrus species having many medicinal effects owing to their secondary metabolites. Flavonoids are a part of aromatic polyphenols having different biological actions such as antioxidant activity, anti-cancer, anti-sensation and etc. Hesperidin is one of the abundant secondary metabolites belonging to flavonoids in citrus, which is effective in treating many diseases.
Materials and Methods: In order to investigate the effect of lemon fruits (Citrus lemon cv. Cluster, C. lemon cv. Lisbon and C. lemon cv. Eureka) tissue type and harvesting time on the flavonoids hesperidin content, this experiment was carried out. Thus, this research was conducted in a factorial arrangement on the basis of completely randomized design with three factors: tissue type (Flavedo, Albedo and Flesh), harvesting time (45, 75, 105 and 135 days after full bloom) and three lemon cultivars (Cluster, Lisbon and Eureka) with three replications. Studied trees in Kotra Research Station were planted for research aims and were 20-year grafted on sour orange rootstocks. For selection of trees, the same height, crown, and other morphological attributes were considered. As the fruit quality may be differ in different parts of crown, fruits were harvested from different geographical orientations of crown. Samples were gathered after full bloom at the 30-day intervals. The measured parameters were included fruit weight, diameter, peel thickness, dry matter and hesperidin flavonoid in extraction of various fruit tissues. Extraction was conducted by methanol and hesperidin content recorded by High Performance Liquid Choromatography (HPLC). Chemicals and reagents used in this study were high quality grade and acquired from Sigma-Aldrich
Results and Discussion: Results showed that the fruit harvesting time significantly affected on fruit diameter, peel thickness, dry matter and also hesperidin content of tissue extraction. Fruit diameter variation was related to the fruit weight. The highest fruit weight attained in cultivars Lisbon and Eureka (88.39 g and 84.72 g, respectively) at the fourth harvesting time (135 days after full bloom) and the minimum, in sour lemon cv. Cluster (4.16 g) at the first harvesting time (45 days after full bloom). The maximum of fruit diameter was recorded in cultivar Lisbon (54.81 mm) at the fourth harvesting time and the minimum diameter in cultivar Eureka (20.75 mm) at the first harvesting time. Fruit peel thickness at the first harvesting stage increased and then decreased. Cluster sour lemon cultivar possessed the highest peel thickness (7.16 mm) and the Eureka cultivar had the minimum (4.66 mm). Percentage of dry matter increased at the first harvesting stage and then decreased. The maximum percentage of dry matter was recorded in cluster sour lemon cultivar (22.83%) and minimum in Lisbon lemon cultivar (11.36%). The highest amount of hesperidin was observed in Lisbon cultivar (1606.93 ppm). These amounts decreased afterward until fruit harvesting time. The highest hesperidin content was produced in albedo tissue. Lisbon lemon in the hesperidin was better than the other two cultivars. It is concluded that the most suitable time of mature fruits harvesting is 45 days after full bloom. At this time the fruit diameter of lemon cv. Eureka, Lisbon and Cluster were 20.7, 22.8 and 25.8 mm; respectively. Hesperidin flavonoid was produced in albedo tissue in all cultivars. Therefor; fruit albedo tissue can be regarded as the best tissue for extracting hesperidin. Hesperidin was severely affected by harvesting time, tissue and cultivar. Hesperidin was achieved in the most amounts at the first harvesting stage in Lisbon lemon compared to all studied cultivars. As the fresh consumption of Eureka, Lisbon and specially Cluster lemon is few, thus preparing programs to extract flavonoid and use this cultivar in food industries is suggested.
Nastaran Hemmati; Azim Ghasemnezhad; Javad Fattahi Moghadam; Pooneh Ebrahimi
Abstract
Introduction: all fruits that called citrus are from rutaceae family and aurantioideae subfamily. This subfamily have more than 33 different genus that only three of its genus (citrus, poncirus and fortunella) have economic aspects and in citrus producing country are important. It's reported that orange ...
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Introduction: all fruits that called citrus are from rutaceae family and aurantioideae subfamily. This subfamily have more than 33 different genus that only three of its genus (citrus, poncirus and fortunella) have economic aspects and in citrus producing country are important. It's reported that orange skin has a phenolic compounds which play a role in natural defense mechanism. Also various compounds of phenolic and antioxidant have a major role in fruit tolerance to stressful condition suh as cold and drought. Metabolites found in citrus fruits have antioxidant properties and it's very useful in pharmaceutical, food and cosmetics industries. Oranges, like other citrus fruits, are an excellent source of vitamin C; Vitamin C is a powerful natural antioxidant. Consumption of foods rich in vitamin C helps the body develop resistance against infectious agents and scavenge harmful, pro-inflammatory free radicals from the blood. Various factors such as rootstock type can effect on quality and quantity of citrus fruits. Also, the usage of rootstock causes the change in plant characteristics such as flowering time, ripening time, fruit quality and antioxidant characters of the fruits. Other factors except the rootstock such as scion, geographical and climate factors are effective on producing secondary metabolites. Also active substances or secondary metabolites are producing by the conduction of genetic processes, but their production are being effected by other factors obviously. The aim of this study is to investigating the biochemical changes grafted tree fruit that affected by rootstock with study the correlation between grafted tree and rootstock changes.
Materials and Methods: This study was done to compare the amount of total phenol, total flavonoids and antioxidant features of fruit flesh and skin with investigating the effect of cultivar and rootstock on these parameters based on completely randomized factorial design with three replications. For this purpose total phenol, total flavonoid and antioxidant activity in two citrus cultivar (morro and mars) that grafted on four rootstock (yuzu, citrumelo, sour orange and shel mahalleh) with seedling rootstocks fruit were studied in fruit skin and flesh. Fruits were harvested in the middle of December according to their total soluble solid materials (TSS) which was 10 and then transferred to the researching laboratory in Gorgan Agricultural Science and Natural Resources University. Antioxidant properties using DPPH method in 517 nm wavelength, total amount of phenol using folin siocalteu method in 765 nm wavelength and the total amount of flavonoid were done using the aluminum chloride method in 415 nm wavelength and they were measured using spectrophotometer.
Results and Discussion: the result showed that the two factors consisting rootstock and scion have significant effect on the amount of total phenol, total flavonoid and antioxidant properties of extracts of citrus skin and flesh. The greatest amount of phenolic compounds was produced in the skin of morro cultivar that grafted on shel mahalleh rootstock and the lowest amount was observed in the flesh of yuzu seedling rootstock. Total flavonoid was affected by fruit tissue, cultivar and rootstock. The maximum amount of that was seen in the skin of morro and mars cultivar that was grafted on yuzu rootstock and the minimum amount was recorded in the flesh of morro cultivar that grafted on sour orange rootstock. Also the highest antioxidant activity was produced in skin of citrumelo seedling rootstock and the lowest amount was seen in flesh of yuzu seedling rootstock. The investigation on citrus rootstock showed that, antioxidant activity, total phenol and total flavonoid had significant effect in different rootstock and cultivar fruit. These compounds were affected by climatic condition. Because the light is effective in biosynthesis of phenolic compounds, in fact, these substances have a protective role against the light, especially short wavelengths. Therefore their more accumulation is in skin. The results of this experiment and also the results of the other researcher show that the rootstock effect is related to the quality of grafted species with the species, rootstock type and their interaction.
Conclusion: Based on these experiments, there was significant difference between antioxidant compounds of grafted tree fruit with rootstock fruit but there wasn’t a clear relationship between them. It seems this difference was due to combination and physiological characteristic of each fruit. It seems that the accumulation of chemicals in citrus fruit superior than every factors depends on genetic characteristics and inherent abilities. So that some factors specially rootstock has an important and determinant role in accumulation of these substances.
