مجله تحقیقات گیاهان دارویی و معطر ایران
سال سی و نهم شماره 1 (پیاپی 115، بهار 1402)

Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium (L.) Schults-bip.) is a perennial medicinal plant from Asteraceae family and a rich source of sesquiterpene lactone parthenolide with anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-spasm, and especially anti-migraine properties. In this study, the aerial parts of five wild populations of this plant were harvested from Mazandaran (Marzanabad, Siah Bisheh, and Valiabad) and Tehran (Ahar and Gachsar) provinces at full flowering stage in 2020 to evaluate their morphological traits and parthenolide content. The results showed a significant difference at 1% probability level among the studied populations for all the traits. The highest plant height (130 cm), flower dry weight (8.60 g.plant-1), and parthenolide content (0.33 mg.g-1 dry weight) were observed in Gachsar, Siah Bisheh, and Marzanabad populations, respectively. Parthenolide content correlated with leaf length, number of lateral branches, and crown diameter negatively and with number of capitols positively and significantly at 5% probability level. Cluster analysis put the feverfew populations in two main groups. Principal coordinate analysis showed that the first three factors could explain 93.06% of the total variance. Overall, the results indicated the existence of high diversity in feverfew populations for use in breeding programs and cultivation and domestication of this species.

Ethnobotany uses the general knowledge of people about the use of plants for different purposes, including home treatment of diseases by plants in different cultures and ethnicities. Golestan is considered as one of the important provinces of Iran for extracting botanical knowledge of natives. The Turkmen is one of the ethnicities of this province that has been able to make good use of nature capacity. The present study was conducted to collect and classify the medicinal plants used by the natives of the Turkmen villages in Eastern Golestan province in 2018. For this purpose, we visited 30 villages and interviewed 90 natives who used medicinal plants to treat people diseases. The results showed that about 54 plant species have a special place in the ethnobotanical knowledge of the region natives studied among which Silybum marianum L. with 78, Urtica dioical L. with 65, and Calendula persica C.A.Mey. with 62 had the highest use report (UR), respectively. S. marianum with 0.86, U. dioical with 0.72, and C. persica with 0.68 showed the highest relative frequency of citation (RFC). The highest number of species belonged to Asteraceae and Lamiaceae families, respectively. The most consumption of medicinal plants was attributed to the gastrointestinal and cardiovascular diseases. The neurological, respiratory, and blood sugar diseases showed the highest amount of informant consensus index frequency (ICF).

To investigate the effects of soil fertility methods on economic yield and essential oil compositions of Nigella sativa L., an experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Experimental treatments included different levels of NPK chemical fertilizer, manure, NPK+ manure, and NPK+ manure+ inoculation of Azorizobium biofertilizer. Seed yield, aerial parts yield, and percentage, yield, and essential oil compounds were studied. The results showed that the highest seed yield (1270.43 kg.ha-1) was obtained in the 40 kg.ha-1 N+ 32 kg.ha-1 P+ 40 kg.ha-1 K+ 30 ton.ha-1 manure treatment. The highest percentage (0.25%) and essential oil yield (2.8 kg.ha-1) was obtained in the 40 kg.ha-1 N+ 32 kg.ha-1 P+ 40 kg.ha-1 K+ 30 ton.ha-1 manure+ Azurizobium treatment. The highest thymoquinone percentage (14.9%) was observed in the 30 ton.ha-1 manure treatment. Overall, the integrated and biological treatments had the most positive effects on seed yield and essential oil percentage of N. sativa. The use of suitable fertilizer sources not only increased the yield, essential oil percentage, and thymoquinone content in Nigella sativa, but also reduced the consequences of excessive use of chemical fertilizers. The use of integrated fertilization methods is an effective step to achieve the sustainable agriculture goals.

In biotechnology processes, increasing the production of biomass and secondary metabolites is one of the economic factors of such projects. The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of magnetic field as an abiotic elicitor on increase of biomass and secondary metabolites of Ganoderma lucidum. Mycelium with a diameter of 1 cm of pured fungi was exposed to magnetism at four levels including 0, 20, 40, and 60 mT for 0, 30, 60, and 90 min with three replications. The best treatment was selected based on growth rate and antioxidant activity. The amounts of secondary compounds in mycelium under selected magnetic field (60 mT for 90 min) including betulin, betulinic acid, ascorbic acid, astaxanthin, total polysaccharide, and antioxidants were measured and compared with control and natural fungi. The results showed that magnetization increased betulin (a potent anticancer triterpene) more than 2.5 times compared to natural fungi and 3.7 times compared to control mycelium. Polysaccharides concentration in the treated mycelium and control media was obtained 5.05 and 5.17 times more than natural fungi, respectively. Ganoderic acid content was measured in the treated mycelium (intracellular) and PDB medium (extracellular). The highest amount of ganoderic acid (1.9 mg.ml-1) was obtained in the treated mycelium. Natural fungi and PBD medium had almost the same amount of this compound (1.87 and 1.86 mg.ml-1). The amount of betulinic acid (an anticancer compound derived from betulin), ascorbic acid, and astaxanthin was obtained high in natural fungus followed by 90 min magnetization at 60mT level treatment and control, respectively. Antioxidants percentage was about 85% in control and about 75% in natural fungi and treated mycelium. According to the results, there seems to be a good prospect to use in vitro cultures of Ganoderma instead of using natural fungi and also constructing costly farms.

To investigate the effects of planting density and organic fertilizers on the yield traits of Satureja spicigera (K.Koch) Boiss. under the Kermanshah rainfed conditions, an experiment was conducted as a split-plot based on complete randomized block design (CRBD) with three replications in Kermanshah Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Center in 2016-2020 crop years. The main factor and sub-factor were fertilizer (rotten cow manure, enriched straw, and field soil (control)) and plant density (2.66, 4, and 8 plants.m-2), respectively. To have the desired densities, plants were grown with a distance of 50 cm between the rows and 25, 50, and 75 cm on the rows. The results showed that the traits including diameter, height, canopy area, fresh and dry weight of plant, fresh and dry yield per hectare, and essential oil yield per hectare were significantly different between the years, plant densities, and fertilizer treatments. The highest fresh yield (3639.3 kg.ha-1) was obtained in the rotten cow manure+ high plant density treatment and the highest dry yield (2105 kg.ha-1) and essential oil yield (72.59 kg.ha-1) in the enriched straw+ high plant density one. The results showed that the best fertilizer and plant density treatment for S. spicigera was straw enriched with ammonium sulfate and 8 plants.m-2.

To investigate the effects of vermicompost and phosphate biofertilizer Barvar-2 on quantitative and qualitative yield of Silybum marianum L., a factorial experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with three replications in a field near Ardebil city in 2018-2019 crop year. Vermicompost was used at five levels (0, 10, 20, 30, and 40 ton.ha-1) and biofertilizer at two levels (inoculation and non-inoculation). The results showed that seed yield, 1000-seed weight, number of seeds per capitule, number of capitules per plant, biological yield, oil yield, silymarin yield, and flower fresh weight were significantly affected by different levels of vermicompost. Also, the application of phosphate biofertilizer Barvar-2 had a significant effect on all traits except inflorescence diameter. The highest amount of traits in the vermicompost treatment was obtained in the application of 40 tons.ha-1. However, there was no statistically significant difference for the traits including number of seeds per capitule, oil, silymarin, and silybin percentage, oil yield, and number of inflorescences in the application of 40 and 30 tons vermicompost per hectare. In biofertilizer treatment, the highest amount of traits was observed in inoculation with this fertilizer. The highest silybin percentage (16.81) and silymarin yield (37.61 kg.ha-1) were obtained in the application of 40 tons vermicompost per hectare and the lowest one (16.12% and 30.56 kg.ha-1, respectively) at the control level of vermicompost.

Thymbra spicata L. (from Lamiaceae family) is distributed in large areas of Iran. In this study, the amount of total phenols and flavonoids, antioxidant activity, and percentage and essential oil composition in different ecotypes of this species from three different regions in Ilam province was evaluated. The results showed that total phenols and flavonoids content was correlated with antioxidant activity positively and significantly, so that plant essential oil from Manesht Mountain with high phenols (8.6 mg gallic acid per g dry weight) and flavonoids (0.30 mg quercetin per g dry weight) content had the highest antioxidant activity, too. The main essential oil compound of the plant from regions with different ecological conditions was thymol (22.6-40.7%). Carvacrol, p-cymene, and γ-terpinene were the other main essential oil compounds of T. spicata from different regions. The results showed that the plant sample from Kaveran region and Manesht Mountain had the highest (2.4%) and lowest (1.4%) essential oil content, respectively. Overall, based on the results of the present study, it could be suggested that the essential oil percentage and composition of T. spicata depended not only to the genetic factors, but also to the ecological factors such as altitude, average annual temperature, and annual rainfall.

Withania coagulans (Stocks) Dunal from solanaceae family is a multi-purpose species that is distributed in Iran only in limited areas of natural habitats in Sistan and Baluchestan province. Different organs of this plant have antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anti-tumor biological effects. To investigate the effects of humic acid and titanium dioxide nanoparticles on the amount of phytochemical compounds and some growth parameters of this species, a pot factorial experiment was performed based on a randomized complete design with three replications. Experimental factors included humic acid at four levels (H0: 0, H1: 10, and H2: 30 g.kg-1 soil) and titanium dioxide nanoparticles at three levels (T0: 0, T1: 45, and T2: 90 mg.l-1). The results showed that the H2T2 treatment increased fresh weight, dry weight, number of lateral branches, height, phosphorus, potassium, and relative water content compared to the control, significantly. Increasing humic acid up to 30 g decreased the phenols content from 48.59 in H0 to 39.88 mg.g-1 fresh weight in H2. In T2, the phenols content increased by 2.37% compared to T0, which had a significant difference with the other treatments. Also, a similar trend was observed for the parameters like total flavonoids and proline. But increasing humic acid up to 30 g increased the amount of chlorophyll fluorescence by 70.79% compared to the control. Overall, the results indicated that the interaction of humic acid and titanium dioxide nanoparticles could improve the growth and plant yield parameters.

To evaluate the plant adaptation and effects of irrigation cycles and NPK elements on growth and yield parameters of Zingiber officinale R., a split-plot experiment was conducted as a randomized complete block design with nine treatments and three replications in two regions including Pakdasht (Tehran province) and Lahijan (Gilan province) in 2021. The experimental factors included irrigation cycle at three levels (4 (V1), 6 (V2), and 8 (V3) days) as the main factor and NPK elements at three levels (N300P100K200 (F1), N350P150K250 (F2), and N250P50K150 (F3) (kg.ha-1)) as the sub-factor. The results showed that the irrigation×NPK effects was significant on plant height, number of leaves per plant, leaf area, number of branches per plant, leaf area index, fresh and rhizome dry weight, and rhizome yield at the 1% probability level and on stem diameter at the 5% probability level in Pakdasht region. The V1F2 treatment was the best one in this region. In Lahijan region, the irrigation×NPK effects was significant on number of leaves per plant and rhizome yield at the 1% probability level and on plant height and stem diameter at the 5% probability level. The best result in Lahijan was obtained in the V1F2 treatment. Also, in terms of leaf area, number of branches per plant, and leaf area index, V1 and F2 was the best treatments in Lahijan. Fresh and rhizome dry weight had the best results in the V2 and F2 treatments. Overall, the studied traits in Lahijan climate were superior to Pakdasht climate and every 4 days irrigation for Pakdasht and every 6 days for Lahijan had the best results.

Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) is one of the widely used medicinal plants. Seeds of this plant are heart-strengthening, invigorating, and toothache painkiller and cure bloody diarrhea and typhoid. Due to the tiny seeds, it needs to be cultivated at low depth of soil for successful establishment. Therefore, it is necessary to use the right method for its cultivation. In the present study, to improve the uniformity in seed germination and increase growth rate and coriander yield, three experiments were conducted as a randomized complete block design (field test) and a completely randomized design (laboratory and greenhouse tests). In the laboratory test, indole-3-acetic acid and humic acid and in the field test, indole-3-acetic acid, humic acid, gibberellin, and zinc improved coriander yield. Also, humic acid pretreatment reduced harmful fatty acids such as myristic acid and palmitic acid, phosphorus pretreatment increased total fat amount, and indole-3-acetic acid increased essential oil content compared to the control. In the greenhouse test, folic acid improved plant yield. Stepwise regression analysis indicated inclusion of seven properties in the predictive model with a determination coefficient of 0.97. Based on the traits correlation results, secondary vigor, root fresh or dry weight, and root diameter were consistent with total dry weight as a dependent trait (significant at the 1% probability level). Overall, coriander seed priming improved the biological functions of seeds, including germination and establishment, by affecting the metabolic, biochemical, and enzymatic status of the seeds. The present results showed that seed priming is a key technology to improve plant yield.

Centella asiatica (L.) Urban, a medicinal plant from Apiaceae family, is known as an endangered species in Iran. This plant has many therapeutic properties, including memory enhancement, anticancer, and treating skin diseases and has also high antioxidant activities. Plant cell and tissue culture is an important tool in basic studies and has commercial applications. Tissue culture method can be used to breed medicinal plants or change the amount of secondary metabolites. Due to the high value of C. asiatica, in vitro cultivation can be used to produce more of this plant. Optimizing tissue culture is useful for conducting the applied researches and metabolic engineering of different secondary metabolites biosynthetic pathways. The present study was aimed at achieving a suitable protocol for in vitro propagation and determining the appropriate concentrations of growth regulators for micropropagation of this valuable species. The interaction of BAP (0, 1, 2, and 3 mg.l-1) and IBA (0, 0.5, and 1 mg.l-1) was investigated on proliferation of nodal explants in MS medium. Then, rooting of the propagated explants was evaluated using IBA and NAA. The results showed that MS with 2 mg.l-1 BAP and 1 mg.l-1 IBA and MS with 1 mg.l-1 IBA were the best media for proliferation and rooting, respectively.