Houshang Yadegari; Isa Khammari; Baratali Fakheri; Abdorahim Nouri; Taghi Ebadi
Abstract
The fertilization method and plant genotype are two important factors affecting the active ingredients of medicinal plants. Milk thistle (Silybum marianum L.) is one of the most widely distributed medicinal plants worldwide that its seeds have been used widely for treatment of toxic liver damage. In ...
Read More
The fertilization method and plant genotype are two important factors affecting the active ingredients of medicinal plants. Milk thistle (Silybum marianum L.) is one of the most widely distributed medicinal plants worldwide that its seeds have been used widely for treatment of toxic liver damage. In this research, effects of genotype and fertilization type on the quality of milk thistle seeds were investigated. Seeds of two genotypes of milk thistle (Hungarian (A1) and Iranian (A2) genotypes) were cultured and eight fertilization treatments (F1= control treatment (no fertilizer), F2= cow manure, F3= NPK fertilizer, F4= mycorrhizal (Glomus mosseae) inoculation, F5= combination of nitroxin, bio-sulfur and bio-superphosphate, F6= combination of NPK fertilizer and cow manure, F7= combination of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi inoculation and cow manure, F8= nano-iron chelate) were used. Traits such as seed yield, oil content and the amount of flavonolignans in the seeds were measured. The results showed that the maximum seed yield was obtained in A2*F4 treatment (1376.54 kg h-1) and the lowest was related to A1*F1 (508.99 kg h-1). The average oil content of the samples was about 2.4 mg g-1 and no significant difference was observed. The results of HPLC analysis showed that the mycorrhizal inoculation (F4) in both genotypes led to the achievement of the maximum amount of most important flavonolignans such as silymarin, taxifolin, silydianin, isosilybin B (18.79, 2.80, 5.02 and 4.73 mg g-1, respectively) and an acceptable amount of isosilybin A (2.72 mg g-1), but A1*F4 treatment yielded the best results. In conclusion, use of mycorrhizal inoculation is an effective practice for production of milk thistle seeds with high quality.
Ali Saebi; Saeid Minaei; Ali Reza Mahdavian; Mohammad-Taghi Ebadi
Abstract
The amount of active compounds of medicinal plants (e.g. essential oil) varies in different plant parts. Thus, it is important to harvest those parts containing the highest levels of active compounds. In the present study the effect of harvest height on quantity and quality of Hyssopus officinalis was ...
Read More
The amount of active compounds of medicinal plants (e.g. essential oil) varies in different plant parts. Thus, it is important to harvest those parts containing the highest levels of active compounds. In the present study the effect of harvest height on quantity and quality of Hyssopus officinalis was investigated based on a randomized complete block design with three replications. Treatments included four harvest heights including 15, 25, 35, and 45 cm (in basipetal order) and the residual stalks. After measuring the essential oil, the component values analyzed by GC and GC/MS. Regarding essential oil content (% v/w), yield and dry matter of different heights, the 15 cm height had the highest amount of essential oil (1.02±0.01%) and the lowest yield (2.17±0.13 g/m2) and dry matter (213.72±15.32 g/m2). On the contrary, the 45 cm height had the lowest amount of essential oil (0.75±0.01%) and the highest yield (5.7±0.57 g/m2) and dry matter (757.52±63.5 g/m2). For all harvest heights, cis-pinocamphone (53.93-44.6%), β-pinene (15.33-12.5%) and trans-pinocamphone (12.2-8.17%) had the highest levels among the compounds of the essential oil. The findings obtained from present study revealed that, if the quality is the matter, the essential oil extracted from the top 15 cm had the highest quality and purity although it was less in quantity.
