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Six accessions of geranium ( Pelargonium sp. 'hybrid') were introduced in temperate and subtropical regions of Jammu and Kashmir. The herbaceous parts in the commercial distillation gave 0.09-0.13% oil on fresh weight basis. The calculated herbage yield (tonnes/ha) and oil yield (litre/ha) varied from 31.5 ± 1.87 to 49.1 ± 2.73 and 32.40 to 57.12, respectively. The geranium oil produced in different regions of Jammu and Kashmir was comparable to that produced in other geranium-growing areas in India in terms of its major constituents, citronellol (22.5-34.5%) and geraniol (13.9-24.7%), respectively. This suggests that geranium can be successfully grown in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tanacetum gracile, an alpine desert aromatic herb collected from Ladakh Himalaya, on steam distillation yielded 0.46% (DWB) essential oil having a characteristic blue colour. The essential oil contained lavendulol (21.5%) as a major chemical constituent. The other compounds include lavandulyl acetate (1.7%), 1,8-cineole (15.2%), cis- β-ocimene (6.4%) borneol (6.1%) and chamazulene (3.7%). The major components were identified by 1HNMR, 13CNMR, GC-MS and GC retention data. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The aim of the present study, which was undertaken as a sub-study within a randomized controlled trial of zinc supplementation, was to evaluate the effect of prolonged zinc supplementation on copper status as assessed by hematological markers., Methods: Plasma copper and zinc were estimated at baseline and after 120 d of supplementation in a randomly selected infant subset (115) of the children. Of these, 61 children were in a zinc group (Z) getting 10 mg of elemental zinc, and 54 were in a control group (C) getting supplement without zinc., Results: Baseline plasma zinc was comparable in the two groups; post-supplementation zinc was significantly higher (Z 93.0 +/- 3.6 vs C 60.6 +/- 8.0) in the zinc supplementation group. There was no significant difference in the mean/median copper levels between the zinc and control groups. The percentage of children with plasma copper <100 microg/dl was also not significantly different between groups (baseline Z 14.8%, C 11.1%; post-supplementation Z 18.0%, C 11.1%). There were no differences between the zinc and control groups after 120 d of supplementation in hemoglobin (Hgb), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), or number of lymphocytes or granulocytes., Conclusion: Zinc supplementation of 10 mg/d for 4 mo in this study did not affect copper status, as assessed by plasma copper concentration and hematological parameters, diagnostics of copper deficiency.