Search

Lippia dulcis is a medicinal species used by communities in the Amazon region for the control of diabetes and as a tranquilizer. The objective of this study was to evaluate the plant biomass production, antioxidant defense, and chemical profiles of the phenolic compounds and essential oil of plants grown under different doses of cattle, quail, and chicken manure. Chicken and quail manure at a dose of 6 kg m-2 reached the highest values of dry weight and essential oil yield of the leaves and positively influenced bisabolol production. Cattle manure aff ected the content and yield of the essential oil of the inflorescences, the antioxidant defense performance, and the chemical composition of phenolic compounds and essential oil. Plants grown with cattle manure showed a linear increase in the amounts of these substances with increasing dose. Chicken and quail manure led to the highest values of these components at doses between 0 and 3 kg m-2. The evaluation of phenolic compounds and antioxidant defense showed the highest values at doses of 0, 1.5, and 3 kg m-2, regardless of the manure used. The essential oil concentration was higher in the inflorescences, and its total yield was higher in the leaves. The chemical composition varied between these vegetative organs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pogostemon cablin (Blanco) Benth. is an aromatic species popularly known as patchouli. The essential oil rich in patchoulol extracted from leaves is used by the pharmaceutical industries. The objective was to investigate the effects of shade nets and shading intensities on P. cablin growth, anatomy, chemical composition and essential oil content. The experiment was conducted with two types of shade nets (black and Aluminet), three light intensities (30, 50, and 70% shading) and full sun. The different light intensities influenced the growth and the essential oil yield, and chemical composition. Patchouli plants grown in an environment with shading showed higher values for the leaf, stem, root ant total dry weights compared to full sun. At 50% of shading, Aluminet provided gain in stem and total dry weights. Aluminet and black net at 50 and 70% of shading enhance essential oil yield. Patchoulol and pogostol contents were higher under full sun, and, black net and Aluminet at 50% shading. The environment for patchouli cultivation can be improved by use shade nets, especially with Aluminet at 50% of shading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluated the influence of seasonality in essential oil (EO) chemical composition of Mentha x piperita L. and Mentha viridis L. grown in southeast of Brazil. Leaves were collected from November 2011 until August 2013, in the middle of the following seasons: Spring (November), Summer (February), Autumn (May) and Winter (August). EO extraction was carried out by hydrodistillation in Clevenger apparatus for 1 hour. Chemical composition of EO was analyzed by GC-FID and GC-MS. The EO content and its chemical composition were influenced by seasonality in both species. The highest EO content was obtained for M. x piperita during spring (4.26%) and for M. viridis during spring (3.30%) and summer (3.70%). Mentha x piperita increased menthol (16.31 to 41.26%), neomenthol (3.02 to 6.39%) and menthone (5.56 to 41.58%) contents during spring and summer, respectively. Whereas, M. viridis EO content did not show a quality response pattern in relation to seasonality. Therefore, harvest time for M. x piperita is recommended during spring, and for M. viridis is recommended during spring and summer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]