A. Kheiry; M. Arghavani; M. Khastoo
Abstract
The present study aimed to investigate the effect of application of organic fertilizers on the yield of medicinal plant, calendula (Calendula officinalis L.). The experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with 10 treatments and 3 replications in the research farm of Zanjan University. ...
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The present study aimed to investigate the effect of application of organic fertilizers on the yield of medicinal plant, calendula (Calendula officinalis L.). The experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with 10 treatments and 3 replications in the research farm of Zanjan University. Treatments included cattle manure, poultry manure, and vermicompost, each at three levels (5, 10, and 15 tons per hectare) and control (without fertilizer). The measured traits were the thousand seed weight, number of capitules per plant, leaf area, plant height, petal dry weight, capitule diameter, chlorophyll content index, flavonoids, carotenoids, and essential oil percentage. Data were analyzed by SAS software, and mean comparisons was performed by Duncan's test. The results showed significant effects of fertilizer on thousand seed weight, capitule number per plant, leaf area, carotenoids, and essential oil percentage at p≤0.01, and plant height, petal dry weight, and flavonoid at p≤0.05. The type of fertilizer had no significant effect on capitule diameter and leaf chlorophyll content. Overall, the results showed that using organic fertilizers had favorable impact on yield, growth characteristics, and active ingredients content of Calendula.
A. Kheiry; F. Sefidkon; M. Delshad; M.R. Fattahi Moghaddam; A. Izadi
Abstract
Achillea millefolium L. from Asteraceae family is considered as an important medicinal plant in the world and also in our country which has considerable secondary metabolites, especially essential oils. Active substances of this plant are used not only in old and modern medicine but also in hygienic, ...
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Achillea millefolium L. from Asteraceae family is considered as an important medicinal plant in the world and also in our country which has considerable secondary metabolites, especially essential oils. Active substances of this plant are used not only in old and modern medicine but also in hygienic, cosmetic and medical industry. In this research, we studied yield and chemical composition of yarrow essential oils from 15 different ecological regions of Iran. For essential oils isolation, the aerial parts of the plant were collected from habitats, in June and July 2009 at full flowering stage. Samples were dried at room temperature and the essential oils were prepared by hydrodistillation method.The oil yields were calculated on dry weight basis and the analysis of the essential oils was carried out by GC and GC-MS. The results showed that total content of essential oils was variable from 0.32 - 0.72% in different populations. The color of the essential oils varied from pale yellow to dark blue and a close relation was found between composition and color of the essential oils. According to the results, essential oil of Achillea millefolium L. in populations of Iran showed a great diversity with regard to the type of the chemical compositions (high chemical polymorphism). Regarding the major components of the oils, seven chemotypes were identified as follows: 1) 1,8-cineole, 2) p-Cymene, 3) cubenol, 4) chamazulene, 5) chrysanthenone + camphor, 6) Lavandulyl acetate + camphor, and 7) camphor + Limonene.
