SOME RESULTS OF AROMATIC PLANTS BREEDING IN REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA

Maria Gonceariuc*, Zinaida Balmu *, A. Ganea** [email protected] Institute of Genetics and Plant Physiology, Academy of Sciences, Republic of Moldova, Chi in ău *) Centre Genetics and Breeding of Aromatic and Medicinal Plants, ** ) Centre Genetics Vegetable Resource

Key words: Anethum graveolens L. ; Satureja hortensis L. ; Melissa officinalis L. ; cultivar ; essential oil Abstract : Anethum graveolens L., Satureja hortensis L., and Melissa officinalis L. varieties adapted to cultivation conditions of the Republic of Moldova have been developed and registered. The Anethum graveolens L. variety named Ambasador is early-ripening, resistant to the diseases provoked by fungi, ensures high production of essential oil making 88.9 kg/ha with a carvon content of 39.8%. The Melissa officinalis L. variety named Lămăiţa is characterized by a production of fresh herb valued 11.5 m. t/ha, while the production of fresh leaves makes 3.9 m. t/ha, the drying ratio making 4-5:1. The new variety of Satureja hortensis L. provides a production of fresh herb in the range of 10 to 13 m. t/ha with a content of essential oil up to 1.4% (dry.mat.) in cultivation conditions of the Republic of Moldova.

Introduction Aromatic plants have been known and used for centuries. These plant species, as medicinal plants, present an important source of raw material for food, perfumery and cosmetic industries, a wide range of sanitary and hygienic articles. The main particular features of aromatic plants include the synthesis and accumulation of active principles, in the first place, of essential oils, the substances that chemically represent a mixture of organic compounds. The most important of them are terpenes and their oxygen-containing derivatives (11,16). For their part, terpenes are hydrocarbons with a general chemical formula of C10 H16 . The most wide spread terpene derivatives are linalohol (C 9H17 COH) and geraniol (C 9H15 CH 2OH). Alyphatic aromatic hydrocarbons, including aldehydes, alcohols, acids, esthers, as well as other hydrocarbon-like compounds belong to the terpene class, all of them being present in essential oils at different ratios (9,12). The Anethum graveolens L. (dill), Satureja hortensis L. (summer savory), and Melissa officinalis L. (lemon balm) species and their products are used at a large scale in food and pharmaceutical industries. Their small quantities are also employed in some perfumery formulas.

Material and methods Anethum graveolens L., Satureja hortensis L., Melissa officinalis L. forms, genotypes, varieties were used as biological material. The methods of variety development included individual selection followed by offsping evaluation in four to five generations. The comparative competition culture tests were carried out on the experimental field of the Institute of Genetics and Plant Physiology on common chernozem according to the variety testing methods used by the State Commission for Plant Variety Testing of the Republic of Moldova. The cultivation technology was that used for these plant species. The concentration of essential oil content was measured using a method of hydrodistillation in Ginsberg apparatuses and was recalculated for dry matter to excluded errors caused by difference in the humidity of the plant samples analyzed. The carvon concentration in essential oil was determined using CGL.

Results and discussion Dill has been known since the antiquity by Greeks, Romans and Egyptians for its culinary and medicinal properties. It has been cultivated in England since the 10 th century. Dill essential oil has been manufactured in Europe since the I5 m-\6m century using distillation from seeds and plants at the flowering stage (19). Beginning with the '60-ies of the 20 th century, essential oil has been produced for food industry from intact plants (stems, leaves, inflorescences), that were ground at the milk-wax stages of fruits, or even from older plants. The toxicity of the oil produced from green plants is characterized by the following: oral LD 5o 4.04 ml/kg (rats), skin LD 5o >5 g/kg (rabbit) in 4% solution in paraffin, petrol esther. The technical characteristics of the Anethum graveolens L. essential oil isolated from the plants at full ripening stage are the following after S.A.Voitkevici (1999): 20 • density d 20 0.870-0.920 20 • refraction angle n D 1.481-1.490 Dill essential oil and fruits are appreciated due to their pharmacological antispastic, carminative, digestive, diuretic, laxative, stimulating, emanogogous, spasmolitic, hypotensive, stomachic, sedative actions (1,5, and 18). The antiulcerous and beneficial action of the plant extract in the case of acute intoxications (10) and the antimicrobial action of essential oil, especially against Salmonella sp., Staphilococcus sp., and Bacillus sutilis (14) have been proved. Carvone and limonen, the components of essential oil are used in cosmetics, food industry for production of canned food, condiments and refreshing beverages. The dill variety Ambasador has been developed at the Institute of Genetics through individual selection and assessment of the offsprings during 6-7 generations (Fig. 1). Figure 1. Anethum graveolens L., var. Ambasador, seed-sown plantation

a – blooming faze b – technical maturity faze Negative selections were used in reproduction of basic and prebasic seeds. The variety is characterized by the morphological characters as follows: erect, cylindrical, fistulous ramificated stem with fine striation as high as 98.5 cm; three- four time featheredly sectioned, laciniate filiform leaves, the inferior ones petiolated, the superior ones sessile, with developed vagina surrounding the stem; inflorescence - umbellula with 35-40 ramifications without involucre; small flowers with a pedicle longer than the flower, without calyx, with 5 yellow slightly emarginate petals; the fruit is formed of two semicircular mericarps in sections with 5 evident costas. The weight of 1,000 seeds (mericarps) is 1.3 g; thus, one gram contains 769 seeds. The important particular features of the Ambasador cultivar are the following: high production of fresh raw material (aerial part of the plant), making 105 M.C./ha; high production of essential oil at the milk-wax stage of the fruits making 88.9 kg/ha or 8.5 kg per one ton of plants. The essential oil is characterized by a carvone concentration of 39.8%. The variety is early-ripening; the seed milk-wax stage begins 5-6 days earlier than in the witness variety Gribovskii. In the years of ordinary climatic conditions, the resistance of the Ambasador variety to cercosporosis, tested against a natural background is higher than that of the witness variety (Table 1) No plants infected with cercosporosis or Alternaría were found in the Ambasador variety in the year 2007, marked by a severe drought.

Table 1. The resistance of the new dill variety Ambasador to cercosporosis

Planta contaminate, Intensitatea de dezvolt ăre a Soiul % bolii, %

2005 2006 X sX 2005 2006 X sX Ambasador 10.9 16.7 13.8 1.9 19.0 16.9 15.7 2.1 Gribovschii, st. 12.9 18.3 15.6 2.4 19.9 18.8 19.4 1.9

Cultivation and utilization of lemon balm {Melissa officinalis L.), an aromatic and medicinal plant, which is well known and used in perfumery, traditional and official medicine and has a pronounced calming, sedative effect over the central nervous system (6, 20), might be also profitable for the Republic of Moldova. Lemon balm is an excellent multifarious plant. Essential oil is used in perfumery and cosmetics, as well as in aromatherapy and can be successfully combined for this aim with the essential oil of pelargonium (Pelargonium graveolens Ait, Pelargonium roseum Willdenow , Pelargonium odoratissimum Soland), lavender (Lavandula angustifolia Mill.), ylang-ylang (Cananga odorata Fil. et Thompson , syn. Canangium odoratum Baill) (2, 15). It is used externally in the treatment of herpes, gout, insect bites, as an analgesic etc. (3). Melissa officinalis L. essential oil has no current official standards. The investigation carried out has resulted in the following physicochemical characteristics: 20 • density d 20 0.892-0.935 • refraction coefficient 1.480-1.506 • concentration of carbonic compounds calculated for a molecular weight of 152.2 17-39% (19). There are no restrictions for the utilization of Melissa officinalis oil in perfumery or cosmetics, but it should be mentioned, that the oil is quite often falsified. The lemon balm variety Lamaita has been developed at the Institute of Genetics, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Moldova through individual selection. Genotypes of the Ukraine and Moldova were used as germ plasma. The forms selected by quantitative characters have been assessed during many generations. The Lamaita variety (Fig. 2), marked among comparative competition crops, is a perennial plant with horizontal rhizome and numerous adventives roots. It forms rectangular stems with a height of 60-75 cm. The leaves are opposed, ovate, crenate, 5-8 cm long and 4-5 cm wide, covered with filaments. The flowers are grouped in verticils of 5-10 each, have a bilobate calyx and a corolla that is yellowish at the top, turning into white. The fruits are small-size semen - 1,000 g of seeds weigh 0.7 g. The Lamaita variety ensures a production of fresh herb making 116 M.C./ha, while that of fresh leaves reaches 39 M.c./ha. The Satureja hortensis L. (summer savory) (Fig. 3) originates from the Mediterranean Sea basin. Summer savory is believed to appear in Europe through Italy, from where it spread over the other countries of this continent. It was one of the aromatic plants appreciated by Carl the Great and was cultivated under the name of "sateraia". Summer savory has been included in the handbook on medicinal plants since the 6th century and is appreciated as a therapeutically and aromatic plant, as well as a condimental one (5).

Figure 2. Melissa officinalis , variety Lamiita, Figure 3. Satureja hortensis , variety Picant

In medicine, summer savory is used as an appetizer, for meteorism, in the treatment of dyspepsia and bronchitis. It is also used as an aromatizer and condiment in food industry. Essential oil, like herb, is also used in food industry. In aromatherapy, the essential oil is used due its analgetic, antiseptic and scar healing actions. It is also used in pharamaceutical industry (13) and in some perfumery compositions (13, 19). Satureja hortensis L. oil is used in Hungary as a cosmetic and pharmaceutical product, as well as a dietic one (4). Summer savory is also known as a melliferous species. Satureja hortensis L. variety Picant has been developed at the Institute of Genetics, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Moldova through individual selection. The variety is characterized by plants 50 cm high, the essential oil content makes 0.98-14%. One gram contains 2380 semen’s, 1000 of semen’s weigh 0.42 g. The production of fresh herb is 10-13 t/ha with a drying ratio of 4-5:1. The variety has been registered in the Republic of Moldova.

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