Agriculture and horticulture
Z. Azimzadeh; A. Hassani; B. Abdollahi Mandoulakani; E. Sepehr
Abstract
Oregano (Origanum vulgare L.) is a perennial herbaceous plant belonging to the fam. lamiaceae that is used as a spice for flavoring foods and also for medicinal purposes as carminative, diaphoretic, expectorant, sedative, stomachic, diuretic, antitussive, and antirheumatic. To evaluate the effects of ...
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Oregano (Origanum vulgare L.) is a perennial herbaceous plant belonging to the fam. lamiaceae that is used as a spice for flavoring foods and also for medicinal purposes as carminative, diaphoretic, expectorant, sedative, stomachic, diuretic, antitussive, and antirheumatic. To evaluate the effects of salinity stress on some growth and physiological parameters, essential oil content, and nutrients absorption in two oregano subspecies, a factorial pot experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with three replications. The experimental factors included two subspecies of oregano (ssp. vulgare and ssp. gracile) and salinity stress at four levels (0, 25, 50, and 100 mM of NaCl). The results showed that the salinity stress had a significant effect on the measured parameters. With increasing the salinity level, the growth characteristics (plant height, stem diameter, number of leaves, and dry matter yield), leaf relative water content (RWC), chlorophyll index (SPAD), percentage and essential oil yield, N, P, and K content and K/Na ratio in leaves and roots decreased, while Na and Cl content in leaves and roots of both subspecies increased. The two subspecies response to the different levels of salinity stress was different. The higher Na accumulation in the roots and higher K/Na ratio in the leaves compared to the roots indicated the ability of oregano subspecies to limit the transfer and accumulation of Na+ ions in their shoots. Overall, the findings of this study showed that the ssp. vulgare had higher tolerance to the salinity stress than ssp. gracile due to the less accumulation of Na and Cl ions, higher K/Na ratio, and lower reduction in chlorophyll index and dry matter yield.
Z. Azimzadeh; A. Hassani; M. Esmaiili
Abstract
Anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum [Pursh] Kuntze) is a medicinal and perennial herb, belonging to the Lamiaceae family. The essential oil of this plant is a rich source of Methyl Chavicol, giving antifungal and antibacterial properties to this plant. To evaluate the effect of different drying methods ...
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Anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum [Pursh] Kuntze) is a medicinal and perennial herb, belonging to the Lamiaceae family. The essential oil of this plant is a rich source of Methyl Chavicol, giving antifungal and antibacterial properties to this plant. To evaluate the effect of different drying methods on the essential oil content and composition of Anise hyssop, the leaves were harvested at full flowering stage and dried by four methods (shade drying, sun drying, oven drying at 40, 60 and 80°C, and microwave oven drying at 180, 360, 540, 720, and 900W) in a completely randomized design with four replications. The drying process was continued until the moisture content of samples reached around 0.11 based on dry weight. Dried leaves were subjected to hydro-distillation using a Clevenger type apparatus to extract the essential oil. The oil samples were analyzed by GC and GC/MS. Results showed that drying methods had significant effect on the drying time and essential oil content. Minimum (4 minutes) and maximum (64 hours) drying time were obtained at 900 W microwave power and shade drying, respectively. The highest (1.51%) and the lowest (0.56%) essential oil content were observed in shade drying and microwave drying in 900 W, respectively. The results of essential oil analysis showed Methyl Chavicol was the main component of essential oil ranging from 83.1% (shade drying) to 94.6% (microwave drying at 720W). Overall, the findings of this study showed that shade drying in spite of long drying time was the best drying method. However, oven drying at 40°C or microwave method in low powers is recommended when our goal is fast drying and achieving essential oil with high percentage of methyl chavicol.