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The comminution and distillation time are two important factors, which affect the essential oil yield and/or composition of aromatic plants significantly. To find out the suitable comminution process and optimum distillation time for isolation of essential oil fromAcorus calamusL., an experiment was conducted. The comminuted rhizomes (sliced and powdered) were hydrodistilled for different durations and their yields and compositions were compared. Distillation of uncomminuted rhizome for 8 hours gave 2.37% of essential oil. However, in comminuted rhizomes, yield varied from 2.27 to 6.60% under different distillation durations. The resulting essential oils were analyzed using GC-FID and GC-MS. Twenty-seven constituents, representing 94.7–97.2% of the total oil compositions were identified. Major constituents of the oils were (Z)-asarone (84.8–91.2%), and (E)-asarone (2.5–5.2%). The comminution and distillation time showed noteworthy effect on the essential oil yield; however, they showed no major change on the essential oil composition ofA. calamus. It was concluded that powdering of dried rhizomes and effecting distillation for 4 hours are appropriate parameters for extracting maximum essential oil fromA. calamusat laboratory scale.ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHERCopyright of Journal of Essential Oil Research is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vitex negundo L., commonly known as the 'Nirgundi' has a long history of medicinal use in traditional and folk medicines for various diseases. To explore the diversity of the essential oil yield and composition of V. negundo, 23 populations were collected during spring season from the western Himalayan region. The essential oil yields varied from 0.06 to 0.10% in different populations of V. negundo. GC-FID, GCMS, and statistical analysis of the leaf volatile oils showed significant phytochemical diversity. The volatiles of V. negundo were complex mixtures of 61 constituents, with sabinene (2.8-40.8%), viridiflorol (10.7%-23.8%), β- caryophyllene (5.3-21.4%), terpinen-4-ol (0.1-7.2%), epi-laurenene (2.2-5.9%), humulene epoxide II (0.5- 4.6%), and abietadiene (0.1%-4.3%) as major constituents. Based on the distribution of major constituents, four groups were noticed by the multidimensional scaling and hierarchical average linkage cluster analyses. In conclusion, the yield and composition of the essential oils isolated from V. negundo varied considerably, depending on the origin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A field experiment was conducted to study the influence of combined use of farm yard manure and inorganic fertilizers on biomass and essential oil yields, chemical and microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen of soil grown with peppermint (Mentha piperita) in a hilly region, Bageshwar, India. Combined application of both farm yard manure and inorganic fertilizers increased the biomass and oil yields of peppermint compared to sole inorganic fertilizers treatments. The treatments receiving both farm yard manure and inorganic fertilizers improved the soil organic carbon and total N from initial value of 3.9 to 7.0 g kg-1soil and 0.27 to 0.58 g kg-1soil, respectively. A significant improvement has been noticed in soil respiration, soil microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen compared to inorganic fertilizer alone. Moreover, different proportions of inorganic fertilizers with farm yard manure had significant variation on available major soil nutrients. A significant correlation coefficient (r= 0.41* to 0.98**) was observed between yields and soil properties. The quality of essential oil was good and acceptable for the market. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Essential oils isolated fromArtemisia gmeliniiWeb. ex Stechm,Artemisia roxburghianaBess. var.purpurascens(Jacq.) Hook andArtemisia maritimaL. were analyzed using gas chromatography (GC) and GC–mass spectrometry (GC–MS).Artemisia gmelinii,A. roxburghianaandA. maritimayielded 1.43%, 0.77–0.90% and 1.67% essential oil, respectively. In all, ninety-two constituents, representing 95.6–99.1% of the total oil compositions of differentArtemisiaspp., were identified. Major constituents ofA. gmeliniioil were artemisia ketone (40.7%),cis-chrysanthenyl acetate (21.3%), 1,8-cineole (11.0%) and pinocarvone (8.9%). The oil ofA. roxburghianacontained borneol (2.1–18.5%), α-thujone (0.2–13.1%), artemisia alcohol (5.2–11.6%), β-eudesmol (5.0–11.6%), eucarvone (2.0–8.9%), caryophyllene oxide (3.5–8.8%), 1,8-cineole (3.2–8.1%),cis-sabinene hydrate (4.5–7.1%),cis-chrysanthenyl acetate (0.2–5.4%) and terpinen-4-ol (2.2–5.2%) as main constituents. However, the oil ofA. maritimawas rich in thujones (α-thujone 72.1%, β-thujone 8.4%). The oils of the investigatedArtemisiaspp. showed considerable variations in their chemical compositions compared with earlier reports. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Vermicompost (VC) produced from distillation waste of geranium (Pelargonium graveolens), farmyard manure (FYM) produced from animal excreta mixed with pine needle (Pinussp.), and biofertilzer (Azotobacter) were utilized for this experiment. The plant growth attributes, biomass, and oil yield of geranium were significantly increased with integrated nutrient supply, and maximum increase was found in T8treatments (N100P60K60+ 5t VC). Soil organic carbon (Corg) significantly increased by 4.2% to 81.8% in T4and T8treatments, respectively, over the control. Data obtained on total nitrogen (Nt) and available N, phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) clearly showed that the integrated nutrient supply considerably improved the soil health and sustainability. The soil respiration and microbial biomass C (Cmic) and N (Nmic) were increased by the manures according to the application rate. The Cmicaccounted for 1.8 to 2.7% of the soil Corgcontent and microbial N accounted for 3.9 to 5.8 % of Ntunder different treatment combinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Survey and collection was done during the year 2005 and 2006 to collect accessions and domesticate at experimental farm at Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Research Centre, Purara. A field experiment was conducted during 2005-2009 to evaluate the 18 accessions of Indian Oregano (Origanum vulgare L.) collected from western Himalaya region of Uttarakhand. All the accessions collected were screened for herb yield and essential oil yield. The highest herb yield was recorded in 'OV7' (926.40 gm) followed by 'OV4' and 'OV9' with 671.40 and 635.00 gm, respectively. The essential oil yield was found to be highest in accession 'OV7' (1.83 ml). The 'OV4' accession dominated by thymol as the major compound yielded 1.40 ml followed by 'OV9' with carvacrol as major compound yielding 1.26 ml. The result of the experiment evaluated accession 'OV7' for high herb and essential oil yield. While accessions 'OV4' and 'OV9' can be domesticated as high thymol and carvacrol rich lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of intercropping of fodder crops on growth and yield attributes of the essential oil-yielding multi-harvest aromatic plant geranium (Pelargonium graveolens L. Her. ex. Ait) under field conditions during 2005-2007. In addition aggressivity, land equivalent ratio (LER), area time equivalent ratio (ATER) and land use efficiency % (LUE%) as an index of intercropping advantage were determined to assess the resource use efficiency of intercropping systems. The main crop geranium was intercropped with oat (Avena sativa L.) and berseem or Egyptian clover (Trifolium alexandrum L.) in different combinations. All crops were also grown in pure stands. The study indicated that the growth and yield of geranium was affected at first harvest compared to sole. But the second harvest in different intercropping systems compared to sole did not affect biomass and oil yield of geranium. Intercrops produced bonus yields over and above that of geranium. The resource use efficiency values were higher in intercropping systems over sole geranium. The study clearly showed that geranium-based intercrop treatments might provide the highest total yield as well as resource use efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a multifactorial ailment that severely affects the viability of dopaminergic neurons leading to progressive loss of motor control. The current regimen for PD treatment includes synthetic drugs that lack efficacy and cause serious side effects. Consequently, recent drug development studies are focusing on alternative medicines from plant sources. Artemisia pallens Wall. ex DC, commonly known as davana, is an annual aromatic herb cultivated in southern India. Given the diverse traditional and scientifically documented therapeutic effects of A. pallens , the pharmacological potential of the isolates of the plant, namely bicyclogermacrene (D1), cis -davanone (D3), and cis -hydroxy davanone (D5), was tested for anti-Parkinson's activity in Caenorhabditis elegans model. The tested compounds alleviated α -synuclein (α -syn) aggregation and maximum decline was observed in 25 μM D1 supplemented worms. Additionally, D1 modulated dopamine regulated nonanol-1 repulsion and locomotory behaviour of C. elegans validating its future use as a dopamine-enhancing agent. The genetic regulation mediating the above effects validated through the qPCR study showed that D1 supplementation displayed its anti-Parkinson's effect through upregulation of the antioxidant defence system genes (superoxide dismutase (sod)-1 , sod-2, and sod-4) and PD associated pdr-1 gene that maintains the mitochondrial proteostasis. The molecular docking studies of C. elegans PDR-1 with D1 further confirmed its contribution in D1 induced abridgment of Parkinson disease linked pathologies in C. elegans disease model. Hence, this article proposes D1 as an effective regimen for curtailing the Parkinson disease linked pathologies through mechanism of maintaining cellular redox state and proteostasis. • Sesquiterpenoids from Artemisia pallens decreased α -synuclein levels in C. elegans. • Bicyclogermacrene(D1) was most effective, modulating the dopamine-dependent behaviour. • D1 upregulated sod-1, sod-2, sod-4 and pdr- 1 mRNA expression. • D1 also showed good binding affinity of −6.51 kcal mol-1 with C. elegans PDR-1. • D1's anti-Parkinson's effects are through cellular redox state and proteostasis regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examined the effects of herb drying, salt concentration, pH, and sampling approach on essential oil yield and composition in Pimenta dioica (L.) Merr. Fresh samples yielded higher essential oil (EO) (1.25%) than shade-dried ones. Increasing NaCl concentration correlated with higher EO yields, while a basic pH favoured superior yields. Gas Chromatography identified Eugenol and β-myrcene as primary constituents. Eugenol content peaked at 10% NaCl (56.429%) and was lowest at pH 4 (42.850%). β-myrcene content was highest at pH 4 (31.476%). Hydro distillation with systematic sampling evaluated the effects of 14 fractions in different time frames. Phenylpropanoids (mainly eugenol) and acyclic monoterpene (mainly β-myrcene) dominated all fractions, with cyclic monoterpene (mainly limonene) enriched in the first four fractions. Fractions 10 to 14 showed significant increases in eugenol compared to the control. These findings provide insights for meeting market demands, enhancing the commercial potential of P. dioica EO.

Cymbopogon distans (Nees ex Steud.) Will. Watson (Poaceae) is a promising aromatic plant distributed in the Himalayas. In this study, five acyclic monoterpenoids, namely geranyl acetate (RS1), neral (RS2), geranial (RS3), citral (RS4) and geraniol (RS5) were isolated from the essential oil of C. distans . The isolated compounds were tested for in-vitro neuroinflammation inhibitory potential in LPS-stimulated BV2 microglial cells. RS1-RS4 exhibited significant neuroinflammation inhibition without any cytotoxic effect at the dose of 10 μM. RS4, the most active anti-neuroinflammatory compound (TNF-α 31.48 ± 1.00%; IL-6 24.02 ± 0.63%; IL-1β 42.15 ± 1.76%) was also able to inhibit acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in a dose-dependent manner. The results showed that RS4 (an isomeric mixture of neral and geranial) has the potential to inhibit neuroinflammation and AChE, which are the biomarkers of neurodegenerative disorders.

Ravenia spectabilis Engl. belongs to the family Rutaceae is known to possess several biologically active phytomolecules. This study was planned to investigate the chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of the leaf essential oil of R. spectabilis . The hydrodistillation of fresh leaves of R. spectabilis gave 0.19 ± 0.02% essential oil. The resulting essential oil was analysed by gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC-FID) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Altogether, thirty-one constituents forming 97.6 ± 1.72% of the total oil composition were identified. Major components of the oil were sabinene (60.8 ± 0.36%), α -pinene (5.4 ± 0.30%), myrcene (4.8 ± 0.25%), δ -3-carene (4.7 ± 0.62%) and β -pinene (4.3 ± 0.17%). The in-vitro antimicrobial potential of the oil was examined against eight human pathogenic bacterial and fungal strains. The essential oil showed significant activity against Staphylococcus aureus , Staphylococcus epidermidis , methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus , methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis , Candida albicans , and Candida kefyr . This is the first report on R. spectabilis leaf essential oil composition and its antimicrobial activity. The essential oil could be a promising natural source of sabinene and antimicrobial for developing new phytotherapeutics.

Purpose: To develop elite mutant in Mentha piperita having morphotype and oil content of Mentha arvensis , and oil quality of M. piperita ., Materials and Methods: The dormant runner of menthol rich genotype MPK-5 were subjected to different doses of γ- irradiation (10, 20, 30, 50, 70, 90, and 110 Gy) at a dose rate of 55 Gy/min to induce the genetic variability for herb and oil yield as well as oil quality. A wide spectrum of variability for agro-morphological traits, herb yield, and quality profile was observed among the mutants., Results: The developed and selected superior mutants viz. MPK-5(1) and MPK-5(3) have a mean herb yield potential of 23.923 and 21.503 Kg/9 m 2 ; mean oil yield of 92.953 and 80.047 ml/plot; mean menthol content of 69.012% and 69.160% with mean menthofuran content of 1.554% and 0.531%, respectively., Conclusions: Mutational breeding through γ- irradiation is considered complementary to the conventional breeding method, to broaden the spectrum of genetic variability. The developed and selected mutants namely viz. MPK-5(1) and MPK-5(3) identified as promising mutants, based on herb yield, oil yield, and essential oil quality, could be used as a parental line for exploitation in hybridization program/recombinant breeding.

Farmers in hilly regions experience low production potential and resource use efficiency due to low valued crops and poorsoil health. Geranium (Pelargonium graveolens L.) is a vegetatively propagated initially slow growing, high value aromatic crop. Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is also vegetatively propagated high demand cash crop. A field experiment was carried out in temperate climate to investigate the influence of geranium intercropping at different row strips (1:1 and 1:2) and plant density (60 x 45, 75 x 45 and 90 x 45 cm) with potato intercrop on biomass, oil yield, monetary advantage and soil quality parameters. The row spacing 60x45cm and row strip 1:1 was found to be superior and produced 92 t ha(-1) and 14 kg ha(-1) biomass and oil yield, respectively. The row strip 1:2 intercrop earned a maximum $2107, followed by $1862 with row strip 1:1 at 60 x 45 cm plant density. Significant variations were noticed in soil organic carbon (Corg), total N (Nt), available nutrients, soil microbial biomass (Cmic) and nitrogen (Nmic) content. Maximum improvement of Corg (41.0%) and Nt (27.5%)with row strip 1:1 at 75 x 45 cm plant density. While higher soil respiration rate, Cmic, Nmic, and qCO2 was found with 1:2 row strip at 60 x 45 plant density. The buildup of Corg and Cmic potato intercrop can promote long term sustainability on productivity and soil health.

Essential oils derived from six different phenophases, namely early vegetative stage, late vegetative stage, early flowering stage, full flowering stage (FFS), late flowering stage and seed shattering stage of Origanum vulgare L. grown in Kumaon region of Uttarakhand, India were investigated by GC and GC-MS. A total of 38 constituents, representing 97.4-99.7% of the total oil composition, were identified. Major components of oils were thymol (40.9-63.4%), p-cymene, (5.1-25.9%), γ-terpinene (1.4-20.1%), bicyclogermacrene (0.2-6.1%), terpinen-4-ol (3.5-5.9%), α-pinene (1.6-3.1%), 1-octen-3-ol (1.4-2.7%), α-terpinene (1.0-2.2%), carvacrol (<0.1-2.1%), β-caryophyllene (0.5-2.0%) and β-myrcene (1.2-1.9%). Thymol, terpinen-4-ol, 3-octanol, α-pinene, β-pinene, 1,8-cineole, α-cubebene and (E)-β-ocimene were observed to be higher during FFS. The study showed that plant stage had a significant effect on the essential oil content and composition of O. vulgare grown in the hilly tracks of Northern India.

Rosa damascena Mill. is an important aromatic plant for commercial production of rose oil, water, concrete and absolute. The rose water and rose oil produced under the mountainous conditions of Uttarakhand were investigated for their chemical composition. The major components of rose water volatiles obtained from the bud, half bloom and full bloom stages of cultivar 'Ranisahiba' were phenyl ethyl alcohol (66.2-79.0%), geraniol (3.3-6.6%) and citronellol (1.8-5.5%). The rose water volatiles of cultivar 'Noorjahan' and 'Kannouj' also possessed phenyl ethyl alcohol (80.7% and 76.7%, respectively) as a major component at full bloom stage. The essential oil of cultivar 'Noorjahan' obtained from two different growing sites was also compared. The major components of these oils were citronellol (15.9-35.3%), geraniol (8.3-30.2%), nerol (4.0-9.6%), nonadecane (4.5-16.0%), heneicosane (2.6-7.9%) and linalool (0.7-2.8%). This study clearly showed that the flower ontogeny and growing site affect the composition of rose volatiles. The rose oil produced in this region was comparable with ISO standards. Thus, it was concluded that the climatic conditions of Uttarakhand are suitable for the production of rose oil of international standards.