Analysis of the Foeniculum vulgare Mill. collection by the complex of features in the conditions of the Crimea foothills

O.M. Zolotilova, N.V. Nevkrytaya*, W.A. Zolotilov, E.D. Ametova, O.B. Scipor and G.D. Kravchenko

Research Institute of Agriculture of Crimea, 150 Kievskaya street, RU295493 Simferopol, Russia
*Correspondence:nevkritaya@mail.ru

Abstract:

Foeniculum vulgare Mill. is a valuable essential oil plant, which raw materials and derived products, and, above all, essential oil, are widely used in the perfume and cosmetics, liquor, paint and varnish industries, in the food industry and medicine. The source material for cultivated plants selection, including F. vulgare, is the collections of the gene pool. The objective of this study was a comparative study of F. vulgare samples collection by the complex of features to clarify the possibility of identifying sources of economically valuable characteristics for creating promising breeding material. The study of the F. vulgare collection supported by the Research Institute of Agriculture of Crimea, which includes 75 samples rom 28 countries, was conducted in 2017–2019 at an experimental base located in the Crimea Foothills (Krymskaya Roza village, Belogorsky district). The collection samples were analyzed according to morphobiological parameters and productivity indicators. The work was guided by generally accepted methods, including those developed for essential oil plants. Statistical processing of the obtained data was carried out. The wide variability of the collection is shown, according to individual indicators (variation coefficients – from 8.3 to 54.4%). In this way, the mass fraction of essential oil (one of the most important indicators) varies within a wide range in the collection – from 1.09 to 3.86% (of absolutely dry mass) in whole plants and from 4.16 to 8.53% in fruits. The composition of the essential oil depends on the raw material. The anethole content reaches 80% in fruit oil, and the content of fenchone and terpene compounds is increased during the plant processing. The results of the collection analysis are basic, allowing preliminary sampling with high productivity indicators for inclusion in breeding studies.

Key words:

Analysis of the selective value of promising Melissa officinalis L. subsp. altissima (Smith.) Arcang variety

N.V. Nevkrytаya¹, V.S. Pashtetsky¹, I.A. Novikov¹, N.N. Petrishina¹, A.V. Mishnev¹ and A.I. Repetskaya²

¹Research Institute of Agriculture of Crimea (RIAC), 150 Kievskaya str., 295493 Simferopol, Republic of Crimea
²V.I. Vernadsky Crimean Federal University, Prospekt Vernadskogo 4, 295007 Simferopol, Republic of Crimea
*Correspondence: nevkritaya@mail.ru

Abstract:

The aim of this research was to study a promising MD 1–17 Melissa officinalis L. subsp. altissima (Smith.) Arcang. variety sample obtained in the collection of the gene pool of the Research Institute of Agriculture of Crimea (RIAC) in comparison with Krymchanka (selected in the RIAC) and Lada (selected in the All-Russian research Institute of medicinal and aromatic plants (VILAR) varieties of lemon balm M. officinalis L. subsp. officinalis. In 2017–2019, in the Department of Essential Oil and Medicinal Plants of the RIAC,a competitive variety trial of lemon balm varieties was conducted in accordance with the methodological recommendations for the selection of essential-oil plants. A territory where this study was conducted belongs to one of the five agroclimatic regions – the upper piedmont, warm, not enough humid; to the northern subarea with moderately mild winters. Weather conditions during the years of competitive variety trial varied significantlya fact that allowed assessing the adaptability of studied variety samples and forecasting the nature of productivity potential realization in different growing conditions. As a result, it was found that MD 1–17 variety sample significantly exceeds other varieties in terms of yield of fresh raw materials, on average, by 62.2 and 77.4%, and in yield of air-dried raw materials, on average, by 32.2 and 52.2%, respectively. In terms of obtaining essential oil from air-dried raw materials, this variety sample exceeds the best in this parameter Crimean variety Krymchanka by 56.3%. Basic components of its essential oil are caryophyllene (25.3–35.9%) and germacrene D (17.7–31.2%) with almost complete absence or insignificant amount of citral (0.1–7.3%); the proportion of latter in essential oils of Krymchanka and Lada varieties can reach 36.6% or more. Novelty of this study includes the creation of the first variety of a new promising essential oil plant –M. altissima. Raw materials of this variety and products of its processing may be of interest for different ways of use, including the perfumery and cosmetics industry, for food purposes as a component of tea compositions, etc.

Key words:

competitive variety trial, Essential oil, essential oil plants, Melissa altissima, Melissa officinalis, morphological and biological parameters, productivity parameters, variety, variety sample