Agronomy

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser

Agricultural Aspects of Medicinal, Aromatic and Spice Plants' Cultivation, Harvest, Processing and Conservation

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editors

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The cultivation of medicinal, aromatic and spice plants depends on a sufficient amount of good-quality biological material during the establishment of stands. The success of special crop cultivation depends on the selection of good-quality seeds or planting material, especially in varieties that fulfill a yield requirement together with qualitative demands on an active ingredient. The advantages of cultivating medicinal, aromatic and spice plants in comparison to wildly growing medicinal plant species are as follows:

the inspection of regulatory mechanisms in plant monoculture;
the verification of agro-biological control of stands;
higher, more stable and higher-quality yields;
the possibility of using mechanization;
better harvest access, conservation and processing of high-quality raw material.

An important parameter of cultivated medicinal plant species is the yield of the main product, and a high yield can be achieved only in optimal conditions. The production ability of stands is influenced by many external agri-ecological conditions, e.g., the climate, soil, and field localization. Important elements for optimal technology in medicinal plant cultivation are the selection of biological material (certificate varieties), soil cultivation, seeding and planting, nutrition and fertilization, and the control of biotic factors (weeds, pests and diseases).

This Special Issue of Agronomy is recommended not only to those involved in research on the cultivation of special crops and their harvest and processing, but also to organic farming and good agricultural and production practices.

Prof. Dr. Ivan Salamon
Dr. Milica Aćimović
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.

Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.

Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.

External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.

Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results

Result details

Show export options Show export options

Select all

Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

22 pages, 1752 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Yield, Composition, and Chemotypes of Essential Oils from Origanum vulgare L. Aerial Parts Cultivated in Different European Countries

by Ain Raal, Tetiana Gontova, Anu Ivask, Anne Orav and Oleh Koshovyi

Agronomy 2024, 14(12), 3046; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14123046 - 20 Dec 2024

Viewed by 992

Abstract

Origanum vulgare L. (Lamiaceae) is widely used in the food, pharmaceutical, perfumery, and cosmetic industries for the needs for which this raw material is cultivated. O. vulgare is a polymorphic species with subspecies, which differ in the structure of their reproductive organs, the location of essential oil (EO) trichomes, and the composition of EO. Therefore, it is very important to identify the most valuable chemotypes rich in biologically active substances and cultivate them more widely. This research aimed to study the chemical composition of O. vulgare EO from aerial parts (n = 17) of cultivated plants (leaves, leaves and flowers, flowering tops) from different European countries (n = 5) to determine the dynamics of EO yield and its component accumulation depending on vegetation phases, as well as to establish chemotypes of O. vulgare, which are the most promising for cultivation. EOs from the raw materials were obtained by hydrodistillation according to the European Pharmacopoeia method; their analysis was carried out by GC-MS. A total of 17 studied samples of O. vulgare aerial parts from Estonia, Turkey, Scotland, Moldova, and Italy contained 1.9–11.0 mL/kg of EO. The highest yields of EO were found in the samples from Moldova (11.0 mL/kg) and Italy (9.3 mL/kg). In total, 89 substances were identified in the studied EOs. By studying the variability of the chemical composition during the plant’s vegetation period, we found the highest content of EO was noted in the phase of full flowering and at the end of blooming. Strong correlations (r = 0.61–0.84) were found between the contents of some terpenoids. The six chemotypes of O. vulgare rich in (1) caryophyllene oxide; (2) sabinene; (3) caryophyllene oxide–(E)-β-caryophyllene; (4) (E)-β-caryophyllene; (5) carvacrol, and (6) thymol–carvacrol were found. In terms of quantitative EO content of O. vulgare, none of the studied samples (n = 17), and in terms of total carvacrol and thymol, most of the samples (n = 15) did not meet the minimum standards of the European Pharmacopoeia. When cultivating O. vulgare for the pharmaceutical industry, it is necessary to proceed from plant propagation material rich in EO and chemotypes rich in carvacrol and thymol. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Aspects of Medicinal, Aromatic and Spice Plants' Cultivation, Harvest, Processing and Conservation)

► Show Figures

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Agricultural Aspects of Medicinal, Aromatic and Spice Plants' Cultivation, Harvest, Processing and Conservation

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editors

Special Issue Information

Keywords

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

Published Papers (1 paper)

Research

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI