Ex situ BEHAVIOUR OF SOME OAT (Avena sativa L.) LANDRACES COLLECTED FROM A POLLUTED AREA IN THE MIDDLE JIU RIVER BASIN (GORJ DISTRICT)

Avena sativa is a specie which can be cultivated on soils with a high amount of heavy metals or with some radionuclids, it being phytoextractive for some elements (zinc, copper, cadmium, uranium, a/o). On the sterile waste dumps from the middle Jiu river basin (Gorj district), and on neighbour area, this species is cultivated more than 20 years ago. The landraces of Avena sativa present adaptation at the presence in soil of a high content in heavy metals and/or radionuclides. From the population farmsteads situated in this area, were harvested 23 landraces of Avena sativa, which were cultivated ex situ in the Experimental Research Station of USAMVB-Timişoara (Timiş district). The analysis of the main quantitative features of these landraces, in comparison with Mureş sort (Control), point out significant differences (notable in some cases), which underlined the variability in this species and the adaptation to environmental conditions. The best oat genotypes, can be used further in a breeding program, in order to obtain for culture on the degraded soils (with a high content in heavy metals and radionuclides), the most proper sorts

Medicinal plants - important source of essential microelements

The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the concentration of some essential microelements (Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu) from the leaves of two plants: stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) and sage (Salvia officinalis), species of plants with multiple uses in the food and medical field due to their high content of compounds with beneficial action for organisms. Samples were obtained by washing, drying and calcination of fresh leaves. The results obtained by atomic absorption spectrometry regarding Mn, Fe, Zn and Cu concentration in sage and nettle leaves shows that the samples contains important amounts of essential microelements, Cu (1.72-1.87 mg/g), Fe (25.43-65.67 mg/g), Mn (7.86 – 9.30 mg/g), Zn (54.61 – 73.12 mg/g). The appreciable contents of essential microelements recommend the use of these plants as a supplementary source of essential elements