Chemical Composition of Essential Oils From Released Coriander Variety (Coriandrum sativum L.) Grown in Ethiopia

The objective of this study was to determine the chemical composition of two coriander variety (Indium and Dinqnesh) produced in Ethiopia. The essential oil content was obtained by hydro distillation method with Clevenger apparatus. The chemical profiles of two varieties were identified using GC-MS. The essential oil content of the dried seeds was 0.60% for Dinqnesh and 0.50% for Indium varieties, respectively. About thirty four and fifty one different compounds were identified from essential oil of Indium and Dinqnesh varieties, respectively. Linalool was found to be the principal constituent for both varieties. The variety Indium had higher linalool content (76.45%) than Dinqnesh (58.85%). Other major components identified were Geranyl acetate (5.60% for Indium and 4.04% for Dinqnesh variety), γ-terpinene (6.76% for Dinqnesh variety and 2.83% for Indium) and α-pinene (6.15% for Dinqnesh and 4.90% for Indium) were identified. Bicycle [2,2,2] heptan-2one,1,7,7-trimethyl-, (1S) and Benzene, 1-methyl-3-(1-methylethyl) were a compounds found only in Dinqnesh Variety and yielded  6.54% and 1.28%, respectively. With comparing the chemical composition of both variety essential oil constituents to other origin or standard requirements, both varieties meet the potential for nutritional and export standard requirement. Keywords: Coriander, essential oil, chemical composition, quality DOI: 10.7176/CMR/11-9-01 Publication date: November 30th 201

Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) Cultivation and Genetic Diversity Assessment in Ethiopia

Fenugreek is mainly used as a spice, food, and medicinal plant in different parts of the world and Ethiopia. There is a suitable agroecology for the production of fenugreek in the country, however, the production volume and productivity are very low compared to its potential due to a lack of improved optional varieties and production packages. From the total production in the country, more than 98% of the production volume is only from Oromia and Amahara regions (58.88% and 39.92%), respectively. Studies on the assessment of genetic variability of fenugreek in Ethiopia revealed the crop was highly variable for several traits which indicates the possibilities for genetic improvement of the crop through selection and cross-breeding. In Previous times there are a few numbers of improved varieties that were developed under seed spices, however recently the research attention given to seed spices is better than the previous, and different varieties were released and recommended for specific and wider agroecology cultivation. In the country, more than nine fenugreek varieties (Chala, Hunda’ol, Ebisa, Bishoftu, Burka, Jamma, Wereillu, Teru, and Chefe) were released for yield, fixed and essential oil, and seed quality from regional and federal research institute. However, variety improvement in Ethiopia was only through the selection of superior yielding and quality landraces. Therefore, developing variety through hybridization and mutation breeding for yield, organoleptic and nutraceutical properties is vital for future breeding work to exploit the potential of the crop in the country