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A recent study in 2019-2020 assessed the productivity, the quality of fatty and essential oils, and the mineral composition of eight nigella genotypes at the Federal State Budget Scientific Institution (FSBSI), Research Institute of Agriculture of Crimea, Simferopol, Russia. Of the eight genotypes, two cultivars originated from Crimea, Russia (Nigella sativa cv. ‘Krymchanka,’ and Nigella damascena cv. ‘Yalita’), and one each from six European-Asian countries, i.e., Dagestan, Uzbekistan, and Sweden (Nigella sativa), Pakistan and India (Nigella indica), and Belgium (Nigella damascena). The Russian nigella genotypes served as control. Genotypes from three European-Asian countries (Sweden, Pakistan, and Dagestan) distinguished from the rest by their highest seed productivity, i.e., 1.0-1.6 g plant-1, which was 1.7-2.7 times higher than the control cultivar ‘Krymchanka.’ The seed productivity of the genotype N. damascena cv. ‘Yalita’ control was 1.5 times greater than the nigella genotype from Belgium. The N. indica produced the highest fatty oil content (29.9%), which exceeded two other species, i.e., N. sativa and N. damascena by 16%–22%. Fatty oils of nigella also contained essential oils of 0.5% for N. sativa and 1.2% for N. damascena. The essential oil of N. sativa contained dominant components, such as, p-cymene (53.5%) and thymoquinone (19.2%), while N. damascena contained p-cymol (82.2%) and other principal components. The identified samples with the maximum accumulation of fatty and essential oils, and macro and microelements can be used to treat and replenish the deficient elements in the human body. Nigella genotype samples exhibited high accumulation of microelements, viz., potassium, calcium, manganese, iron, copper, zinc, and molybdenum in the leaves and seeds.

Against the background of global climate change, drought stress has become one of the environmental limiting factors that can significantly influence the growth and development of crop plants. Drought stress conditions also cause changes in plant physiological and metabolic processes. The influence of soil drought on the mineral composition of the leaves of two Actinidia species with С3-type photosynthesis, namely, Actinidia argutа (Siebold & Zucc.) Planch. ex Miq. cultivar ‘Taezhny Dar’ and Actinidia kolomikta (Maxim. & Rupr.) Maxim. cultivar ‘Narodnaya’, was studied through energy dispersive spectrometry. The investigations were carried out during 2020 to 2021 at the Department of Genofonde and Bioresources of Plants, Federal Scientific Center for Horticulture, Moscow. The present research revealed that actinidia leaves contained the following major elements: K (11.19 mass% to 13.84 mass%), Ca (7.83% to 12.08 mass%), Cl (6.20 mass% to 7.33 mass%), and Mg (2.98 mass% to 3.44 mass%). Low values were recorded for Mo (1.19 mass% to 4.49 mass%) and P (0.83 mass% to 1.25 mass%). In both species, the mineral elements K and Ca were present at high levels. A positive correlation was observed between Mg–P, K–Mn, Mn–Se, Cu-Se, P–Si, Na–Mo, and Si–Mn in the leaves of A. argutа and between Cl–Ca, Mo; P–Si, Mo; and K–Ca in the leaves of A. kolomikta. Under stress conditions, the ratios of K/Ca and K/P declined to 0.9 and 6.3, respectively, whereas those of K/Cl, K/Mg, and K/Mo increased to 3.8, 4.4, and 2.7, respectively. The present studies confirmed that actinidia leaves contained high concentrations of minerals, especially K, Ca, P, and Mg, and that the accumulation of mineral elements in actinidia plant leaves under drought conditions varied depending on the species.

Based on the conducted research, a method with an internal standard for the quantitative determination of the content of individual phenolic compounds – carvacrol and thymol in essential oils of Thymus vulgaris L., Monarda fistulosa L., Origanum vulgare L., Satureja hortensis L., Satureja montana L. was developed. The internal standard – oxygen-containing monocyclic terpene alcohol menthol with a purity of 98.0% – was experimentally determined. Metrological characteristics of the developed method: the convergence of the arithmetic mean of two definitions is not more than 0.3 %; the relative measurement error at P= 95 is not more than 2.0 %.

We developed an optimized method for the production of flavored oils for salad dressing containing 4-5 times more aromatic substances compared to original mustard oil and having an optimal fatty acid composition. An application 2019135136/10(069439) for the invention “Method for producing flavored vegetable oils for salad dressing” was submitted to Rospatent. A favorable decision is granted on the issue of a patent for the invention.