Effect of cold stress at flowering stage on some important characters of five German chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.) genotypes in a pot experiment

Publication date: Available online 14 October 2019Source: Journal of Applied Research on Medicinal and Aromatic PlantsAuthor(s): Razeih Bagheri, Massoud Dehdari, Amin SalehiAbstractGerman chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.), is one of the common medicinal plants cultivated most significantly for its pharmacological applications. Environmental stresses, especially cold stress, affect the total amount of active ingredient in plants. The effects of various temperatures, including 25, 10, 5, and 0 °C at flowering stage, were investigated on important traits of 5 German chamomile genotypes ('Bodegold', 'Isfahan', 'Ahwaz', 'Zabol', and 'Shiraz'). A number of important morpho-physiological traits were measured and essential oil was extracted (using hydro-distillation method) from flowers. According to the results of variance analysis, genotypes had significant differences for the measured traits except for the number of shoots per plant, the number of flowers, and flower diameter. Temperature affected all the traits significantly, except for root length, root dry weight, and relative water content. Interaction of genotype and temperature was significant for the number of flowers, percentage of electrolyte leakage, and percentage of essential oil. The results indicated that, essential oil percentage increased from 25 °C to 10 °C and then decreased with increasing cold stress in all the studied genotypes. 'Shiraz' genotype indicated the highest values regarding root length (...
Source: Journal of Applied Research on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants - Category: Complementary Medicine Source Type: research