Comparative investigation of 11 Achillea collina Becker accessions concerning phenological, morphological, productional features and active agent content

Eleven Achillea collina Becker accessions of different origin were tested in open field plots during three years for their phenological, morphological, productional features and active material content in Budapest, Hungary. Among the tested plant materials European selected cultivars, Hungarian cultivated stocks and populations from wild growing habitats were investigated. Concerning flowering time, two types (early and late) were distinguished. Flowering time of the less abundant late type, represented by Hungarian variety ‘Azulenka’ and ‘Gb22’, started approximately 2 weeks later than that of the early flowering type. Plant height and length of flowering horizon varied only slightly among taxa, and increased after the first year of cultivation. The proportion of useful plant organs in the drug was stable. Biomass and drug production of the investigated genotypes was variable, late flowering types providing higher yields. Essential oil, proazulene, total phenolic and flavonoid content varied on a large scale among accessions and years.Results demonstrate the high intraspecific variability of A. collina and also the role of valuable genotypes in drug production. Selected cultivars may provide stable and good yields and drug quality under particular environmental conditions, while genotypes of wild origin may be valuable sources of future breeding programs

Effect of genotype and age on essential oil and total phenolics in hyssop (<i>Hyssopus officinalis</i> L.)

Five Hyssopus officinalis L. accessions (German, Hungarian and Polish ones) were compared over three years with regard to their development and secondary metabolite production, in an open field experiment. The Hungarian variety ‘Sophie’ produced the highest essential oil (EO) yield (up to 2.037 ml/100 g). In general, one-year old individuals accumulated the most volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and the accumulation was influenced significantly by genotype and year. A total of 47 components were identified in all of the oils. In all accessions cis- and transpinocamphones were most frequently the major compounds, but there were quantitative differences among genotypes. Highest proportions of these two components together appeared in ‘Erfurter Ysop’ (70.7%). The third main compound was β-pinene that accumulated in the Hungarian accessions in the highest proportions (11-19%). The cultivation year did not have a considerable influence on the EO composition. Significant difference in the total phenolic content was evident among genotypes, and ranged from 443.64 mg/g DW (‘Erfurter Ysop’) and 329.32 mg/g DW (‘Hyzop lekarsky’) calculated as gallic acid. The effect of the year was not significant, although we detected a significant variety × year interaction. In general, the selected hyssop cultivars showed an advance to commercial batches

Effect of water supply on growth and polyphenols of lemon balm (Melissa officinalis L.) and thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.)

A pot experiment was carried out with lemon balm (Melissa officinalis L.) and thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.). Different water supply was applied: 25%, 40% and 70% saturation of soil water capacity (SWC). Morphological traits, biomass and phenolic type active ingredients were investigated

Evaluation of yarrow (<i>Achillea</i>) accessions by phytochemical and molecular genetic tools

Yarrow (Achillea) species are known and utilized worldwide. In the recent study our primarily goal was to get information about the intraspecific diversity of A. collina in the Carpathian Basin. Five cultivated genotypes and six populations of wild origin were compared involving seven other species as control. Essential oil (EO) and proazulene (PA) contents were determined and the DNA samples were evaluated by RAPD (11 primers) and ISSR (12 primers) methods. The EO content varied between 0.010 (A. distans) and 0.365 (A. collina) ml/100g DW, the PA content was found between 0.021 and 0.173% DW. The used RAPD markers provided 140 bands (97.14% polymorphic). They distinguished primarily among species and less characteristically among the A. collina populations. With ISSR primers we detected 188 bands (97.34% polymorphic). ISSR markers and combined RAPD and ISSR method enabled an informative intraspecific evaluation of A. collina accessions. The largest genetic distances were found between A. ptarmica and the members of sect. Achillea (genetic distances 0.52-0.72). Similarity is highest (genetic distance 0.27) among the populations of lower geographical distances. Nei’s genetic distances of cultivated populations are also relatively low (0.23- 0.36). Some wild accessions may represent valuable biological resources for breeding

Effect of Irrigation on the Production and Secondary Metabolites of Summer Savory (Satureja hortensis L. ‘Budakalászi’)

As consequence of the predicted climatic changes, analysis of the effects of drought stress on different plant species seems to be essential. In our study summer savory (Satureja hortensis L. ’Budakalászi’) was investigated in an open field experiment in the Experimental and Research Farm of the Szent István University in Soroksár. To identify the effect of water supply, irrigated (W) (additional 2 × 20 mm water per week) and non-irrigated control (C) treatments were applied on the plants with 50 × 30 cm growth distance. During the vegetation period water potential (pressure chamber) and the chlorophyll content (SPAD-502) were measured. Fresh and dry mass and leaf ratio were determined when plants were harvested at full flowering stage. The essential oil content was hydro-distilled with a Clevenger-type apparatus according to the Hungarian Pharmacopoeia (7th ed.). The essential oil composition was identified by GC-MS. The effect of the irrigation was obvious for the majority of the examined traits. The chlorophyll content decreased (W: 32.58 SPAD unit; C: 35.70 SPAD unit) while the water potential increased (W: -12.85 bar; C: -21.35 bar) significantly with water supply. The fresh mass (W: 104.00 g per plant) and dry mass (W: 14.09 g per plant) of the watered plants were higher compared to the untreated control (fresh: 60.55 g per plant; dry: 6.58 g per plant). The leaf ratio did not change significantly (W: 51.04%; C: 48.40%). The essential oil composition of savory seems to be independent from the water supply. The main components of the essential oil were carvacrol (50-51%), γ-terpinene (35-36%), and p-cymene (3-4%) in both oils. Irrigation decreased the accumulation level of the essential oil (W:  4.289 ml 100 g-1 DM; C: 4.859 ml 100 g-1 DM). However,  due to higher biomass,  the essential oil yield of well-watered plants was higher. Based on this information we may declare that during the cultivation of savory, additional irrigation seems to be necessary

Morphological, phytochemical and molecular characterization of intraspecific variability of wormwood (<em>Artemisia absinthium</em> L.)

A trial with nine wormwood accessions was installed to carry out a systematic evaluation of intraspecific diversity. Six morphological features, essential oil (EO) yield and thujone content were measured. Besides, 11 RAPD and 15 ISSR molecular markers were tested to determine the genetic diversity of the accessions. The experiment was carried out in open field in 2016. Accession “Pákozd” exhibited largest growth (64.9 cm) and genotype “Norwegen” was the smallest (29.9 cm). This latter accession had also the smallest but thickest leaves. Concerning morphological features, the Norwegian population was the most homogenous one (CV%: 10.6-20.1) while “Belgin” brought about largest variability (CV%: 18.4-45.3). Based on EO yield, the studied accessions were divided into three significantly diverse groups. The highest yield was produced by “Spanish” accession (3.215 ml/100 g), “Norwegen” and “Belgien” produced medium values (1.569-1.892 ml/100 g) and six accessions showed EO yields below 1% (0.349-0.832 ml/100 g). Three acces-sions (“Leipzig”, “Belgien” and “Norwegen”) had high amount of thujone in the oil (50-89%) while in all other accessions thujones were absent or present only below 1%. “Belgien” accession had balanced ratio of α- and β-thujones while in the other ones β-thujone was the absolute main component. High polymorphism was found among the wormwood accessions also by molecular markers: 81.15% for RAPD and 73.10% for ISSR primers. Based on the Nei’s genetic distances the three groups of genotypes were identical to those in the case of EO yield. The study confirmed the large intraspecific variability of wormwood but revealed that it is not definitely connected to geographical origin of the populations