مجله تحقیقات گیاهان دارویی و معطر ایران
سال بیست و سوم شماره 3 (پیاپی 37، پاییز 1386)

Salvia leriifolia (Lamiaceae) is an endemic plant of Khorasan and Semnan province with antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal, antidiabetic and antinociceptive properties. In this research, antioxidant activity of root and leaves of S. leriifolia were investigated at different stages of plant growth and development and finally the best time of harvesting for obtaining the maximum antioxidant activity was introduced. For this purpose, plant root and leaves were harvested at vegetative (mid March), flowering (mid April) and ripen seed phases (late May) Then, antioxidant activity in metanolic extract of root and leaves were measured by rancimat method at 110°C. Statistical analysis was performed according to the JMP software. The results showed that maximum antioxidant activity of root and leaves are coincident with vegetative and flowering phase. In vegetative phase, antioxidant activity of the root were significantly higher than the leaves. On the other hand, antioxidant properties of the leaves were markedly stronger than the roots at flowering phase. There was no significant difference between antioxidant activity of the roots and leaves in ripen seed phase. Therefore, it seems that March and April are the best time for obtaining the maximum antioxidant activity of root and leaves, respectively.

Toxoplasma gondii is one of the most important apicomplexan parasites of humen and other warm-blooded animals. In the present study the effect of garlic extract on the acute toxoplasmosis was evaluated in a murine model. A total of 35 balb/c mice were included, and 10000 were given to each mouse intraperitoneally. In the first experiment, 20 mice were given the garlic extract 100, 200, 400 and 500 mg/kg/day orally for 7 days starting the day after Toxoplasma organisms of the RH strain Toxoplasma gondii administration. A group of 5 mice were used as controls. In the second experiment, the treatment was started at 24 hours after administration and garlic tablets 100 and 500 mg/kg/day were given for 7 days. Animals that received the garlic extract and garlic tablets survived, and all of the control animals died after 4-5 days. Animals treated with garlic extract and garlic tablets showed a survival rate of 100% until the fifth day of experiment (p<0.0001). The tachizoites of Toxoplasma were disappeared in the liver of experimented mice, but they were found a few in the spleen of treated mice. Garlic extract and garlic tablets were found to be effective in the treatment of murine Toxoplasmosis. In this study there was no difference between the effects of garlic extract and garlic tablet. The results of this study has shown that garlic extract administration results in the increasement of survival time of mice that were contaminated with a killing dose of Toxoplasma and reduces the appearance of this parasite in the tissues. The best dose of garlic extract for increasing the survival time is 200 mg/kg. In conclusion, these effects could be resulted from antibacterial and immunomodulatoric effects of garlic.

Due to study the effect of swoing dates on Dragonhead, this research trial was carried out on randomized complete block design with three replications. The effects of sowing dates on 6 of March, 19 of March, 4 of April, 20 of April, 5 of May, 21 of May, 5 of June and 21 of June were studied on growth and herb yield of Dragonhead. The results showed that sowing dates has significant effect on growth and development of Dragonhead. The highest plant (82.5 Cm) and the largest number of branches per plant (18.14) was obtained from the plants which were sown on 19 of March and essential oil content (199.0 Kg/ha) was obtained from the plants which were sown on 4 of April. There was no significant effect among herb yield and essential oil percentage of different sowing dates. The highest essential oil content obtained from the plant were sown on 4 of April, therefore, sowing this plant is recommended.

Since the relationship between soil and water status of plants and its effect on growth, propagation and metabolism process, the effect of water stress on Parthenium argetatum, was investigated. Irrigation treatments were selected based on different percentage of field capacity (FC), including (1)a control sample which was irrigated to full field capacity during the growing season (FC), (2) two moderate water stress treatments (LS1=75% and LS2=50% of field capacity) and (3) severe water stress treatments (HS=25% of field capacity). Results showed that plant RWC (relative water content) decreased from 65.8% to 42.8%. Also water stress induced high amount of sugar and proline. The amount of sugar was the highest in sever treatment (HS=2.9 mg/g FW) while it was the least in FC treatment (1.07 mg/g FW). The amount of proline was the highest in sever treatment (HS= 4.28 mM) while it changed from 1.1 in LS1, 1.56 in LS2 and the least (0.96 mM) in FC treatments.

The fresh leaves of five cultivated Eucalyptus species, i.e. Eucalyptus stricklandii Maiden, E. brockwayii, E. sargentii Maiden, E. largiflorens F. Muelland E. kruseana F. Muell were collected in the spring from Shushtar in Khuzestan province (South region of Iran). After drying the plant materials in shade, their essential oils were obtained by hydro-distillation. The oils were analyzed by GC and GC/MS. Seventeen components were identified in the oil of E. stricklandii with 1,8-cineole (71.2%) and α-pinene (9.2%) as the main constituents. Twenty-five compounds were identified in the oil of E. brockwayii with 1,8-cineole (17.8 %), isopentyl isovalerate (17.2%), α-pinene (14.0%), trans-pinocarveole (12%), β-pinene(7.5%) and ρ-cymene (5.3%) as major components. Sixteen compounds were characterized in the oil of E. sargentii with 1,8-cineole (56.7%), β-eudesmol (6.0%) and α-pinene (4.9%) as the main constituents. Fifteen components were identified in the oil of E. largiflorens with 1,8-cineole (41.3%), spathulenol (11.6%) and virdiflorol (15.9%) as major components. Fifteen components were identified in the oil of E. kruseana with 1,8-cineole (63.3%) and α-pinene (15.9%) as the main constituents. The results showed, although 1,8-cineole was the main component of the essential oils of all the studied Eucalyptus species, its relative content was higher in the oil of E. stricklandii.

This study was conducted to evaluate salt tolerance in Cyamopsis psoraloides, Cynara scolymus, Hibiscus sabdariffa, Cassia angustifolia, Ocimum basilicum and Hyssopus officinalis at germination stage. Salinity levels, including 0, 50, 100, and 200 mM were applied using a completely randomized design with three replications. Germination percentage and rate were measured in the Petri dishes and root and shoot lengths were recorded at seeding stage. There was no germination for Hibiscus sabdariffa, Cassia angustifolia, Ocimum basilicum and Hyssopus officinalis at 200 mM NaCl. However, Cyamopsis psoraloides and Cynarascolymus showed seed germination at 200 mM NaCl. Higher salt tolerance potential in some species makes cultivation possible or other stress tolerant medicinal plants under saline environments.

Physalis alkekengi L. fruit (from Solanaceae) shows diuretic and laxative activities. The aim of present study was to investigate the antispasmodic effect of hydroalcoholic leaf extract on rat ileum contractility. Leaf powder of Physalis alkekengi was extracted by maceration in 70% alcohol for 72 h. A terminal portion of male Wistar rat ileum was dissected and its contractions were recorded isotonically in an organ bath containing Tyrode solution (37 ºC, pH 7.4) under 1 g tension. The results showed cumulative concentrations of the extract (0.25-2 mg/ml) reduced the ileum contraction induced by KCl (60 mM) or by carbachol (10μM) dose-dependently (P<0.0001). The antispasmodic effect of extract at 1 mg/ml was attenuated (P<0.01) by incubation with propranolol (1μM, 30 min) but was not affected by tissue incubation with naloxone (1μM, 30 min) and L-NAME (100μM, 20 min). In Ca2+-free with high K+ (60mM) Tyrode solution, the extract (0.5-2mg/ml) reduced the ileum contractions induced by cumulative concentrations of CaCl2 dose-dependently (P<0.05- P<0.01). Physalis alkekengi leaf hydroalcoholic extract inhibited rat ileum contractions neither by involving opioid receptors nor by NO synthesis. It seems that partially β-adrenoceptors and mainly the calcium channels are involved in the spasmolytic effect of the extract.

Collection and Determination of Medicinal Plants in Hamedan province have been carried out since 1995 for five years in the center of national resources and animal affairs of Hamedan province. Medicinal plants of different regions were collected by using field study and information of experienced people traditional medicine. Some informations including scientific name, family name, Persian name, local name, botany specifications, distribution area in the province, herbarium number, habitat, the height from sea level, utilized organ, manner of usage, liables to use in traditional and local medicine, and chemical composition in species, etc. were recorded for each medicinal plant. By the end of project, totally 6000 herbaceous species were collected from different regions of the province, which 315 medicinal plants were identified and related to 71 families and 209 genus. These numbers included species which were self-grown (wild) in natural resource boards of province and 159 species have traditional usage in the province and 156 species are out of traditional and indigenous use but they are called medicinal plants in drug resources.

Rosa damascene is one of the aromatic and medicinal plants which its flowers are used for obtaining rose water by traditional and industrial methods. In addition of rose water, the flowers contain 0.02% essential oil which is called first oil or direct oil. This essential oil is very valuable but there are many water soluble compounds which are solved in rose water and therefore they should be extracted by different distillation methods. In this research two methods for distillation of rose water were used. These methods were distillation at atmospheric pressure (760 Torr) and vacuum. At both methods, all physicochemical parameters should be controlled till the best essential oil is obtained. This essential oil is called water oil or second oil. Essential oils, extracted from rose water by two methods, were evaluated for their chemical composition by GC and GC/MS. Comparative study of main components of essential oil obtained by distillation at atmospheric pressure and vacuum showed that the percentage of alcohols have increased by vacuum method. The amount of 2-phenyl ethyl alcohol has increased from 5.6% to 7.5%, followed by citronellol from 59.5% to 61.2% and geraniol from 13.2% to 14.3%.

Flavonoids are polyphenolic compounds with strong antioxidant effects. Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.) is used for a variety of herbal remedies, containing classes of biologically active compounds including flavonoids and essential oil. There have also been many reports, showing that flavonol-O-glycosides are quantitatively the most abundant flavonoids found in chamomile flowers. Tolerance of this plant on saline and drought conditions has not been well studied and documented. Therefore a greenhouse experiment was conducted using complete randomized design with four replications in order to evaluate the effects of salinity and drought stress on flower dry weight and falavonoids component of chamomile. Hydroponic solutions are used for salinity experiment at five levels of NaCl concentrations (0, 40, 80, 120, 190 mM). In order to examine drought stress, we used gravitational method and four treatments (FC soil moisture content, and 75, 90, 95 depletion percent of soil AWC) in a pot experiment. Then the flower dry weight and their flavonol-O-glycosides were measured. The Results showed that both salinity and drought reduced flower dry weight and flavonoids concentration, but drought reduction effects were more than salinity. Flowers dry weight significantly increased with increasing NaCl concentration up to 40 mM while decreased at higher salinity levels. There were no significant differences between salinity treatments up to 80 mM NaCl for flavonol-O-glycosides concentration. Regarding the dry flower yield, the highest content of flavonol-O-glycosides was observed in 40 mM NaCl treatments. Flower dry weight and Flavonol- O- glycosides decreased as drought levels increased.

Ferula assa-foetida L. is an Iranian endemic medicinal plant that belongs to Apiaceae family. Seeds of this plant have a long period of dormancy. Therefore, experimental methods, which decrease seed dormancy period, could be effective in the seed germination rate and also in revival of the plant. The effect of GA3 as a pre-treatment (at high concentrations in a short time period at 23±2°C) and treatment (low concentrations in a long time period at 23±2 and 4°C)on germination of two Tabas and Shirkooh population seeds on MS medium was analyzed. Comparative analyses on treated and pre- treated seeds from two populations with GA3 at 23±2°C temperature did not show any significant changes in both the germination percentage and rate. However, seeds chilling treatment (4°C) indicated increased germination rate and percentage. So, after 12 weeks the maximum germination percentages were 84 and 56% for Tabas and Shirkooh populations. Also the effect of the temperature was investigated on seed germination on the wet filter paper in two levels of 23±2 and 4°C. According to results, maximum seed germination percentage obtained for Shirkooh were (90%) and Tabas (67%) populations by soaking the seeds on the wet filter papers in Petri dishes within 8 to 9 weeks. Finally, it seems that increasing endogenous GA3 concentration, which is provided mostly by chilling treatment, is the most effective factor for breaking the seed dormancy.

In order to study the effects of Glomus hoi fungi, different levels of phosphorus and drought stress on some physiological characteristics of coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.), was conducted at Karaj Research Institute of Forest and Rangelands in 2006. Field experiment was carried out by a split factorial design with 4 replications. The factors were two level drought stress with irrigation after 30 mm water evaporation from evaporation pan (without stress conditions) and irrigation after 60 mm water evaporation (drought stress conditions) and also application and non-application of mycorrhiza, 0, 35 and 70 kgha-1 phosphorus fertilizer. The results showed drought stress has significant effect on water use efficiency, relative water content and proline accumulation rate (α=1%). Highest water use efficiency with 0.449 kgm-3 and proline accumulation rate with 6.767 mmol/ml were achieved under stress conditions and highest relative water content with %90.6 was achieved without stress conditions. Also, the results showed mycorrhiza and phosphorus had significant effects on water use efficiency (α=5%). Comparison of means showed that highest water use efficiency with 0.395 kgm-3 and 0.4 kgm-3 was achieved under application of mycorrhiza and application of 70 kgha-1 phosphorus, respectively. Relative water content and proline accumulation rate were not significantly affected due to phosphorus and mycorrhiza. The results showed that water use efficiency and proline accumulation rate were increased under drought stress conditions but relative water content decreased.

The effect of applying different methods and nitrogen levels on yield and essential oil of savagery (Satureja hortensis L.) was investigated using a factorial experiment based on randomized complete block design with 3 replications in 2005, Karaj, Iran. The treatments included application of solid nitrogen in soil with 4 levels 0, 50, 100 and 150 kg/ha and spray of nitrogen on foliage with 4 levels 0, 4.5, 6 and 7.5 percent. The nitrogen applied three times equally. The results showed, effect of treatments on biological yield, plant height, essential oil percentage, flowering shoot yield, number of lateral branch (P< 0.01) and harvest index were significant (P<0.05). Interaction of treatments on essential oil percentage, essential oil yield, flowering shoot yield (P<0.01) and biological yield (P<0.05) were significant. This experiment found that applying 100 kg pure nitrogen in soil with 4.5% produced highest biological yield, seed and flowering shoot with means of 4424, 875.3 and 1855 kg ha-1, respectively. The results showed, increase of nitrogen application caused decrease of essential oil percentage. Highest essential oil percentage related to application of 6% of nitrogen solution with mean of 2.13%. Utilization of 150 kg of solid nitrogen with 7.5% of nitrogen solution produced highest plant height with mean of 66.88 cm, highest lateral branch with mean of 18 and highest essential oil yield with mean of 33.7 kg ha-1. Highest harvest index related to control with mean of 25.98%. The results showed that use of sprayed nitrogen on foliage decrease nitrogen application. Therefore, this method could be suitable for sustainable agriculture.

According to national project of "identification and ecological investigation of Aromatic plants" collection and identification of Lamiaceae family Aromatic plants in different regions of Yazd province were done. Then the ecological parameters of different plantations such as pedology, latitude, altitude, slope direct, slope percentage, annual precipitation and mean temperature, climate, dominant species, companion species and the best habitat with respect to abundance and density were recorded. The results showed, out of 71 aromatic plant species, 34 belonged to 15 genera related to Lamiaceae family. The important genera are Nepeta with 9 species and Salvia with 7 species. Biological forms of species include:Hemichryptophytes 52.9 %, Cryptophytes 11.8 %, Therophytes 20.6 %, Chamaephytes 11.8 % and phanerophytes 2.9 %. Hemichryptophytes have the most evential biological form. Most of these species are in high and mountainous areas.