فهرست مطالب m.r. morshedloo

Postharvest conditions have a noticeable effect on the quantity and quality of secondary metabolites of medicinal plants. Accordingly, in the present study, the effects of different storage durations (0, 2, 4, and 6 months) and packaging types (kraft, polyethylene, polypropylene, and without packaging) on the quantity and quality of essential oil and phenol and antioxidant activity of methanol extract in fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) fruit were evaluated. Essential oils and methanol extracts were prepared using hydrodistillation (Clevenger, for 3 hours) and Soxhlet extraction methods, respectively. Essential oils were analyzed by GC-FID and GC-MS. In general, increasing the storage duration reduced the essential oil content of fennel (with the exception of kraft packaging) and the rate of this reduction varied depending on the packaging type. The polyethylene-packed fruitsstored for 2 months and unpacked fruits stored for 6 months had the highest (3.25% v/w) and lowest (1.8% v/w) essential oil content, respectively. The number, type, and amount of essential oil compounds were affected by storage duration and packaging type. The highest (75.8%) and lowest (49.46%) amounts of E-anethole were obtained from the essential oil of unpacked fruits stored for 6 months and unstored fruits, respectively. The amount of phenol and antioxidant activity decreased with increasing storage duration, but the effect of packaging type varied at different storage durations. Overall, based on the essential oil content, phenol, and antioxidant activity, storage of fennel could not be recommended, but based on the type of target compound in the essential oil, different storage durations could be suggested. If the storage of fennel is necessary, the polyethylene and kraft packaging could be recommended based on the total characteristics measured in this research.

Intercropping systems and biofertilizers application play an important role in improving the quantity and quality of plant products. In this regard, to evaluate the effects of Myco-Root biofertilizer on the quantitative and qualitative traits of Thymus vulgaris L. in intercropping with Cicer arietinum L., an experiment was carried out as a randomized complete block design (RCBD) at the faculty of Agriculture, University of Maragheh during 2020 growing season. Treatments included thyme sole culture, thyme sole culture inoculated with Myco-Root, chickpea sole culture, chickpea sole culture inoculated with Myco-Root, intercropping of one row chickpea+one row thyme (1:1), planting pattern of 1:1 inoculated with Myco-Root, intercropping of two rows chickpea+one row thyme (2:1), and planting pattern of 2:1 inoculated with Myco-Root. The results demonstrated that the highest seed (751.40 kg.ha-1) and biological (1645.6 kg.ha-1) yields of chickpea were obtained in the chickpea monoculture inoculated with Myco-Root, which was not significantly different from planting pattern of 2:1 inoculated with Myco-Root. Moreover, the highest dry matter yield of thyme (189.47 g.m-2) was achieved in the sole culture with application of mycorrhizal fungus. Also, the highest percentage (1.69) and essential oil yield (3.31 g.m-2) of thyme was obtained in planting pattern of 1:1 with application of mycorrhizal fungus in first harvest. Thymol, γ-terpinene, and p-cymene were recognized as the main essential oil compounds. The highest percentage of thymol and γ-terpinene was obtained in planting pattern of 1:1 inoculated with mycorrhizal fungus. Also, the highest agronomical (land equivalent ratio, area harvest equivalent ratio, area time equivalent ratio, and land use efficiency) and economic (intercropping advantage, monetary advantage index, and system productivity index) indices were achieved in the intercropping ratio of 2:1 and 1:1 with application of Myco-Root biofertilizer, respectively. In general, the results showed that the Myco-Root biofertilizer application in intercropping, especially the planting pattern of 1:1, could improve the quantity and quality of thyme essential oil.

To investigate the effects of different salinity levels on the essential oil content, and some morphological and physiological characteristics of two oregano subspecies (Origanum vulgare subsp. gracile (K.Koch) letsw. and O. vulgare subsp. hirtum (Link) letsw.), a factorial greenhouse experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with four treatments and three replications. The salinity stress treatment was applied using sodium chloride in Hoagland nutrient solution at four levels of control (no stress), and mild (salinity 30 mM), moderate (salinity 60 mM), and severe (salinity 90 mM) stresses. According to the results, under salinity stress the growth indices, total carotenoids, and chlorophyll index decreased, but the activity of antioxidant enzymes and concentration of malondialdehyde and hydrogen peroxide increased in both subspecies. The wet and dry weight, carotenoids, hydrogen peroxide, and guaiacol peroxidase activity were obtained higher in subsp. hirtum than subsp. gracile. The percentage and essential oil composition were also affected by salinity. With increasing the salinity levels, the essential oil percentage was significantly increased compared to the control and its highest amount (0.8%) was observed under mild stress. Thirty five compounds were identified in both oregano subspecies essential oil. Carvacrol (30-72%: subsp. hirtum crarvacrol more than the other subsp.), γ-terpinene, carvacrol methyl ether, and p-cymene were the main components of both subspecies. The results of this study demonstrated the superiority of subsp. hirtum to the other oregano subspecies in terms of the tolerance to salinity stress and also quantitative and qualitative yields.

To determine the effects of Myco-Root biofertilizer and different irrigation levels on the content and essential oil compounds of thyme (Thymus daenensis Celak.), a factorial experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with eight treatments and three replications in the greenhouse of Plant Production and Genetics department, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Maragheh, Iran, in 2020. The factors included drought stress at four levels of without stress (irrigation at field capacity (FC) as a control), mild (irrigation at 75% FC), moderate (irrigation at 55% FC), and severe (irrigation at 35% FC) stresses and biofertilizer at two levels of inoculation and non-inoculation with Myco-Root. The results demonstrated that the fresh and dry weight of leaves, stem dry weight, total dry weight, leaf relative water content, chlorophylls a and b and total chlorophyll content, and root colonization percentage decreased significantly with increasing the water deficit level. However, the carotenoid content and essential oil percentage showed an increasing trend with increasing drought stress. The highest carotenoid content and essential oil percentage was obtained by using Myco-Root under moderate drought stress. Thymol, carvacrol, p < /em>-cymene, 1,8-cineole, (E)-caryophyllene, borneol, γ-terpinene, and α-pinene were identified as the major constituents of essential oil in the all treatments. The highest content of thymol was obtained under mild drought stress with the Myco-Root application. Furthermore, the highest content of carvacrol was recorded under mild, moderate, and severe drought stresses, respectively with the Myco-Root application. On average, the application of Myco-Root biofertilizer increased the content of thymol, carvacrol, 1,8-cineole, E-caryophyllene, borneol, and α-pinene by 4.19, 48.28, 15.93, 16.33, 14.15, and 3.78%, respectively compared to not using this biofertilizer. Overall, the results showed that some morphological and physiological traits of thyme decreased significantly with increasing the water deficit levels, but the application of Myco-Root biofertilizer could amend drought stress and improve the growth, percentage and essential oil quality of the plant. Thus, the use of Myco-Root biofertilizer instead of chemical fertilizers could be recommended to achieve the sustainable agriculture in the thyme cultivation.

The present study probes into distinguishing factors of adopter and non-adopter farmers in cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants. The study population was farmers of Sari County. According to Krejcie and Morgan sample size table, 312 farmers (n1= 89, n2=61, NT = 150) were selected as a sample using stratified random sampling method. Research device was a self-administrated questionnaire. The face validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by a group of agricultural extension and education faculty members and then required amendments were made based on their suggestions. Cronbach's alpha was used to confirm the internal consistency of the items used for research measures and the results ranged from 0.86 to 0.94. The data were analyzed using SPSS20. This study revealed that the adoption rate of medicinal plants' cultivation is 59.33%. The evidence also suggests a suitable fitness of the logistic regression model with quantitative data (Cox and Snell R2 = 0.10, –2log likelihood = 187.190). The results of the logistic regression model also illustrated that the variable knowledge (Exp (B)= 1.88) has the greatest effect on the adoption of medicinal plants' cultivation. As a concluding remark, agricultural extension change agents were provided with some practical recommendations in order to be able to promote the cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants.

To evaluate the effects of mycorrhizal fungus Funneliformis mosseae application and harvest time on the quantity and quality of thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.) essential oil in the different irrigation regimes, a field experiment was carried out as a split-split plot in a randomized complete blocks design (RCBD) with 12 treatments and three replications at the Agriculture Faculty, University of Maragheh, Iran, in 2019. The factors and their levels included 1- the main factor: irrigation regime at three levels of irrigation after 20% (W20 as control), 50% (W50 as moderate stress), and 80% (W80 as severe stress) of maximum allowable depletion, 2- the subfactor: application and non-application of mycorrhiza, and 3- sub-sub factor: harvest time at two levels of June harvest (first harvest) and September harvest (second harvest). The results demonstrated that the highest amounts of plant height, canopy diameter, and dry matter yield of thyme were obtained in the W20 (control)+ application of mycorrhiza fungus+ first harvest treatment. In addition, the highest essential oil content was recorded in W50 followed by W80, which were 38.2 and 23.7% higher than W20 (control), respectively. Also, the application of mycorrhiza fungus increased the essential oil of thyme by 8.5% compared to the non-application of fungus. The highest and lowest content of thymol, γ-terpinene, and p < /em>-cymene were obtained in W50 and W20, respectively. Also, the application of mycorrhiza fungus increased the amount of mentioned compounds, respectively by 3.8%, 3.9%, and 7.1% compared to the non-application of fungus. Overall, it can be concluded that W50 (moderate stress) along with the application of mycorrhizal fungus F. mosseae improved the essential oil quality and quantity of thyme.

Hypericum sp. is one of the most widely used medicinal plants in the world. Both genetic and environmental factors influence the growth and phytochemical properties of the plant. Therefore, in this study, growth characteristics, essential oil content, total phenol and antioxidant potential were evaluated in different populations of three Hypericum species (H. scabrum (HS), H. asperulum (HA) and H. vermiculare (HV)). The results indicated that only flowering stem height was affected by species and other measured traits were not affected by species and population. But the interaction between species and population was significant on all measured traits. So that the highest flowering stem length (77.7 cm), flower and leaf weight (42.4 g), stem weight (30.9 g), plant weight (65.6 g), essential oil content (0.43%), total phenol (204.9 mg gallic acid.g-1 dry extract) and antioxidant potential (52.7 µg dry extract.ml-1) belonged to populations No.5 in HA, No.3 in HS, No.4 in HA, No.4 in HA, No.4 in HS, No.6 in HV, and No.5 in HA, respectively. A positive and significant correlation was observed between stem weight, flower and leaf weight and plant weight with mean annual rainfall of the habitat, between essential oil percentage with soil phosphorus and mean annual temperature of the habitat, and between the electrical conductivity of the habitat soil with the antioxidant potential of the extract. There was also a negative correlation between essential oil percentage and soil organic matter of the habitat. Stem weight, flower and leaf weight, and plant weight had the highest variance among populations belonging to the same species and, therefore, were identified as desirable traits for separation of populations. Generally, one population cannot be considered superior to the others because the superior population was different depending on the trait. Therefore, to achieve a superior population, all populations of the three species must be cultivated and compared under the same conditions.

To investigate the effect of integrative application of mycorrhizal fungus and chemical fertilizer on the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of medicinal plant dragon’s head (Lallemantia iberica Benth.) under rainfed conditions, an experiment was conducted as a randomized complete block design with seven treatments and three replications in the research farm of Maragheh University, Iran, in 2017. Treatments included 100% conventional chemical fertilizer (250 and 150 kg ha-1 urea and triple superphosphate, respectively), Glomus mosseae (GM), G. intraradices (GI), 50% chemical fertilizer+GM, 50% chemical fertilizer+GIand 50% chemical fertilizer+GI+GM. The results demonstrated that the highest (802.8 kg ha-1) and lowest (463.5 kg ha-1) seed yield and the highest (40.64%) and lowest (25.85%) harvest index were achieved in the integrative application of 50% chemical fertilizer+GI+GMand separate application of GI treatments, respectively. Besides, the highest content (9.18%) and yield (73.75 kg ha-1) of mucilage was observed in 50% chemical fertilizer+GI+GM treatment. Furthermore, the highest amount of mucilage compounds (glucuronic acid, galacturonic acid, arabinose, raffinose, galactose, glucose, xylose and rhamnose) was obtained in 50% chemical fertilizer+GI+GM treatment. Based on cluster analysis, the treatments were divided into three groups. In general, the application of 50% chemical fertilizer+GI+GM while reducing the use of chemical fertilizers improved the quantitative and qualitative yield of the dragon’s head.

Oregano (Origanum vulgare L.) is one of the most selled culinary and medicinal herb throughout the world. Flowering aerial parts and leaves of oregano have been used as a popular flavoring of food stuffs and as an antioxidant agent in cosmetics. Oregano contains a wide array of active components, including flavonoids, phenolic acids and glucosides, phenols and triterpenes. Several biological activities namely antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, antidiabetic, antispasmodic, antimelanogenesis and antiproliferative have been demonstrated for oregano-based essential oils and extracts. Among the main bioactive constituents of these products, the phenols carvacrol and thymol, and the phenolic rosmarinic acid and origanoside proved to be strong antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and cardioprotective agents.