Producción ecológica en los cultivos de lavanda en Cuenca (España). Estudio del rendimiento y calidad de sus aceites esenciales

In the present paper, we present a description of the ecological agriculture of different lavenders in Cuenca province (Spain). We focused on the important aromatic crops of Lavandula angustifolia (lavender) and on three varieties of Lavandula × intermedia (lavandin) called name abrial, rosso and super. A description of yield production and essential oil qualities obtained in our experimental fields are presented. Lavandin var. super showed the best essential oil quality with good yield production as well. The current market of Fragrant and Medicinal Plants claims raw materials with confirmed quality, with good practices of harvesting, transformation and manufacture by means of ecological production.En este trabajo presentamos una descripción del cultivo ecológico de diferentes lavandas en la provincia de Cuenca (España), concretamente de los cultivos de Lavandula angustifolia (lavanda) y de tres variedades de Lavandula × intermedia denominadas abrial, grosso y super. Se presenta una descripción de los rendimientos de estos cultivos y de las calidades obtenidas de la destilación de sus aceites esenciales. Con la variedad super de lavandin se obtuvieron las mejores producciones y calidades. El mercado actual de plantas aromáticas y medicinales reclama materias primas de calidad contrastada, con trazabilidad óptima de los productos, buenas prácticas de recolección, transformación y manufactura mediante producción ecológica

Ecological agriculture: essay of weed control on Rosmarinus officinalis L. culture from Castilla-La Mancha (Spain)

Se presentan los resultados obtenidos en el ensayo del control de malas hierbas en agricultura ecológica de Rosmarinus officinalis L., planta aromática y medicinal de interés para Castilla La Mancha. Las diferentes cubiertas vegetales empleadas, restos verdes de Vicia sativa L., restos del destilado de plantas aromáticas y paja de cebada, redujeron el número de malas hierbas siendo la cobertura de paja de cebada la más eficaz de las testadas. El control de malas hierbas con este tipo de cubiertas naturales es una buena alternativa frente al uso de herbicidas y otros productos químicos.An essay of the weed control on ecological agriculture has been carried out. Three different cover managements have been tested: fresh plants of Vicia sativa, distil plant residues from aromatic plants and barley straw, on the tillage of an aromatic and medicinal plant from Castilla La Macha Province: Rosmarinus officcinalis L. All the cover managements were found to reduce weeds in all the tested tillage, although the barley straw cover showed to be the most efficient one. This type of covers used as weed control could be considered as an effective alternative to the use of herbicides

Conocer e identificar para respetar y conservar: gymkana foliar

Depto. de Biodiversidad, Ecología y EvoluciónFac. de Ciencias BiológicasFALSEsubmitte

Estudio del efecto de los factores ambientales y agronómicos sobre la producción de los aceites esenciales de "Salvia lavandulifolia" VAHL

Esta Tesis Doctoral presenta una nueva metodología para la identificación de quimiotipos dentro de las poblaciones naturales de especies de plantas aromáticas. Tiene como objetivo principal estudiar la viabilidad fitoquímica en relación a la composición química de los aceites esenciales de la especie Salvia lavandulifolia Vahl. Esta variabilidad fitoquímica se ha puesto de manifiesto tanto en las poblaciones naturales como entre distintos individuos de diferente procedencia desarrollándose en condiciones de cultivo bajo un ambiente edafoclimático común. Para poder afirmar que una variación cuantitativa detectada en una población natural efectivamente identifica a un nuevo quimiotipo deben completarse los estudios prospectivos con la evaluación del desarrollo de la especie en ambientes distintos y/o distintas condiciones de cultivo. La adaptación que presentan los individuos de esta especie ante condiciones de crecimiento distintas a las originales de las cuales proceden, muestra cómo el factor genético prevalece ante la adaptación a las condiciones ambientales. Las características químicas de los distintos aceites esenciales se mantienen campaña tras campaña, sin embargo, las condiciones climáticas pueden introducir cierta variabilidad. Este componente genético es el que mantiene la identidad en la composición química aunque varíen las condiciones ambientales y hace que sean posibles respuestas cuantitativamente distintas ante una misma situación de estrés ambiental. Sin embargo, la biosíntesis de aceite esencial parece estar muy condicionada tanto por el estadío fenológico del vegetal como por las condiciones ambientales, especialmente la pluviometría. Se hace necesario para mejorar la rentabilidad de las explotaciones agrarias comenzar proyectos de selección y mejora en esta especie para obtener cultivares adaptados disponibles para los agricultores y que cumplan con la normativa en relación a la calidad de los aceites esenciales

Comprehensive phenological description of essential-oil chemotypes of Salvia lavandulifolia Vahl Grown under the same environmental conditions

A comprehensive description of diverse essential-oil chemical profiles was conducted with twelve individual plants of Salvia lavandulifolia Vahl (Spanish sage) gathered from wild populations and grown under identical culture conditions. Whereas the chemical polymorphism within species of aromatic plants is well known, both the statistical significance of the differences in the chemical composition and the setting of chemical profiles have been scarcely studied. Remarkably different essential-oil chemical profiles were described for the wild-growing plants, which remained different during the three years of cultivation, even when acute situations of water stress occurred. Different patterns of representative compounds throughout the phenological cycle of the species were also reported, with 1,8-cineole being the main oil compound described (contents of up to 75.2%). The Mahalanobis distance was used as a separation parameter, to assign a significance level to a single-compound chemotype. The phytochemical heterogeneity of some wild populations of Spanish sage was proved. Furthermore, some concrete genotypes presented high percentages of the following volatile compounds: limonene, 1,8-cineole, transcaryophyllene, spathulenol, and viridiflorol

Essential oil yields and qualities of different clonal lines of Salvia lavandulifolia monitored in Spain over four years of cultivation

The current knowledge about the medicinal properties and marketing possibilities of the Spanish sage (Salvia lavandulifolia Vahl.) requires additional studies about the management of this valuable species. To this end, essential oil yields and chemistries from eleven different mother plants collected in the wild and cultivated in a single plot were obtained and monitored during four years (2010, 2011, 2013 and 2014) at three different phenological stages ((LF) leaves formation-vegetative, (FB) full bloom and (SM) seed maturation). Significant differences have been found in the yield over the phenology being the maximum essential oil production at the stage of SM. Besides, the yield enhanced by both the shortage periods of rainfalls and the plant age with in turn a maximum average yield recorded of 4.15% v/w in SM in 2014, at the end of the experiment. However, no distinction by clonal lines could be made regarding yield. Essential oil chemistry conversely, showed deeply influenced by the genotype from which the material for hydrodistillation was taken. Thus, the main essential oil compound recorded was the oxygenated terpene 1,8-cineole (36.7% in average value for whole experiment), with other accompanying important components such as α-pinene (7.8 %), β-pinene + myrcene (14.5%), limonene (6.2%) and camphor (7.1%). Besides, unlike the yield, essential oil chemistry was only partially influenced by the year of harvest with no relevant changes according to the phenological stage of the plant. Thus, phytochemical differences found in nature in the first place largely and even wider remain when plant growing under a common environment. Hence, some new and stable chemotypes were described according to their high values of α-pinene (>10%), limonene (>17%), 1,8-cineole (>50%), camphor (>20%) and β-caryophyllene (>7 %). This information is highly relevant for standardizing, assuring crop quality and for the proper management of the Spanish sage cultivation

Data from: Complete mitochondrial DNA replacement in a Lake Tanganyika cichlid fish

We used nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences from specimens collected throughout Lake Tanganyika to clarify the evolutionary relationship between Lamprologus callipterus and Neolamprologus fasciatus. The nuclear data supports the reciprocal monophyly of these two shell breeding lamprologine cichlids. However, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences show that 1) L. callipterus includes two divergent and geographically disjunct (North-South) mtDNA lineages; and that 2) N. fasciatus individuals cluster in a lineage sister group to the northern lineage of L. callipterus. The two mtDNA lineages of L. callipterus diverged c. 684 Kya to 1.2 Mya, coinciding with a major water level low stand in Lake Tanganyika, which divided the lake into isolated sub-lakes. This suggests that the two mtDNA lineages originated as the result of the separation of L. callipterus populations in different sub-basins. The incongruent phylogenetic position of N. fasciatus can best be explained by an ancient unidirectional introgression from L. callipterus into N. fasciatus. Remarkably, our data indicate that this event resulted in the complete mtDNA replacement in N. fasciatus. Our data suggest that hybridization occurred soon after the divergence of the two L. callipterus mtDNA lineages, probably still during the water level low stand, and that subsequently the invading mtDNA lineage spread throughout the lake

Chemical characterization of Lavandula latifolia Medik. essential oil from Spanish wild populations

A survey of Lavandula latifolia Medik. wild populations was carried out covering the distribution area of the species in Spain. Samples (194) from 6 different biogeographic provinces were gathered, dried, hydrodistilled and their essential oils analyzed by gas chromatography (GC). Forty compounds were identified, three of them (1,8-cineole, linalool and camphor) accounting for more than 70% of the total oil in all the analyzed samples. Linalool and camphor were inversely correlated. Camphor production seemed to be helped by lower altitudes. Two-step clustering analysis was conducted and samples were classified into three different clusters C1 characterized by its high content in camphor, borneol, camphene, α- and β-pinene; C2 characterized by its high content in linalool and terpinen-4-ol and C3 characterized by the presence of limonene, transcaryophyllene and/or β-phellandrene, compounds that did not appear in significant percentages in the other two groups. C1 populations are the most frequent in samples from Eastern and North-Eastern Iberian Peninsula (Balearic-Catalonian-Provençal and Cévenno-Pyrenean biogeographic provinces). Populations from Central Iberian Peninsula (Mediterranean Central and West Iberian biogeographic provinces) and upland areas from the South of Spain (Betican and Murcian-Almerian biogeographic provinces) were mainly grouped in C2. C3 samples were also found in Cévenno-Pyrenean province and, to a lesser extent, in the Central provinces (Mediterranean Central and West Iberian). This distribution showed certain relationship between the chemical composition of the essential oils and their geographical origin. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd

Perfil químico y biológico de aceites esenciales de plantas aromáticas de interés agro-industrial en Castilla-La Mancha (España)

The chemical composition and biological activities of essential oils of <i>Salvia officinalis</i> L., <i>Salvia lavandulifolia</i> Vahl., <i>Lavandula x intermedia</i> Emeric ex Loisel., <i>Lavandula latifolia</i> Medik., <i>Lavandula angustifolia</i> Mill. and <i>Thymus vulgaris</i> L. are presented. The essential oils have been analysed by Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry and 61 compounds were identified, 23 of which represented more than 1% of the essential oil. The 1,8 cineole (16-23%) appeared as the main compound of <i>Salvia</i> sp. essential oils. The high content of α-thujone was characteristic in <i>S. officinalis</i> oil. Remarkable concentrations of linalool (30-33%), camphor (5-17%) and linalyl acetate (9-28%) were detected in <i>Lavandula</i> sp. oils while carvacrol (21.6%) and p-cimene (23.7%) were the most abundant compounds in <i>T. vulgaris</i> oil. Biological characterization was based on their bioplaguicide activity. The essential oils studied had strong antifeedant effects against <i>Leptinotarsa decemlineata</i> Say, <i>Spodoptera littoralis</i> Boisd., <i>Myzus persicae</i> Sulzer and <i>Rhopalosiphum padi</i> L., phytotoxic activity against <i>Lactuca sativa</i> L. and <i>Lolium perenne</i> L. and also exhibited high antifungal activity against <i>Fusarium</i> sp. Oils from <i>T. vulgaris</i> and <i>L. latifolia</i> showed the highest levels of bioactivity against all target species. These results provide an added-value to the essential oils of aromatic plants of agro-industrial interest for its potential use in the development of natural agrochemicals.<br><br>En este trabajo se presenta el estudio químico y biológico de los aceites esenciales de <i>Salvia officinalis</i> L., <i>Salvia lavandulifolia</i> Vahl., <i>Lavandula</i> x intermedia Emeric ex Loisel., <i>Lavandula latifolia</i> Medik., <i>Lavandula angustifolia</i> Mill. y <i>Thymus vulgaris</i> L. El estudio químico por cromatografía de gases acoplada a espectrometría de masas de los aceites esenciales permitió la identificación de 61 compuestos, de los cuales 23 presentaron un porcentaje mayor o igual al 1 %. Los aceites esenciales de <i>Salvia</i> sp. se caracterizaron por presentar un alto contenido de 1,8 cineol (16-23%) y, en el caso específico de <i>S. officinalis</i>, una elevada proporción de α-tuyona (15.7%). En <i>Lavandula</i> sp., los compuestos mayoritarios del aceite fueron linalol (30-33%), alcanfor (5-17%) y acetato de linalilo (9-28%); mientras que en <i>T. vulgaris</i> lo fueron carvacrol (21.6%) y p-cimeno (23.7%). La caracterización biológica, desde el punto de vista de la actividad bioplaguicida, mostró que los aceites ensayados disminuyeron significativamente la alimentación de <i>Leptinotarsa decemlineata</i> Say, <i>Spodoptera littoralis</i> Boisd., <i>Myzus persicae</i> Sulzer y <i>Rhopalosiphum padi</i> L., mostraron actividad fitotóxica frente a <i>Lactuca sativa</i> L. y <i>Lolium perenne</i> L. y disminuyeron el crecimiento del micelio del hongo de Fusarium sp. Los aceites de <i>T. vulgaris</i> y <i>L. latifolia</i> fueron los más activos frente a todas las especies empleadas como dianas biológicas. Los resultados obtenidos potencian el valor añadido de los aceites de plantas aromáticas de interés agro-industrial en Castilla- La Mancha como una alternativa interesante en programas de desarrollo de agroquímicos naturales