Salinity is one of the major factors limiting agricultural productivity in arid and semi‐arid regions. Saline areas around the world are increasing and sources of fresh water are decreasing. The increasing importance of the use of brackish water to supplement regular irrigation has demonstrated a need for finding new potential plants with tolerance to irrigation with saline water which can be used in industrial agriculture. The aim of this study was to determine whether irrigation with brackish water of Crambe Abyssinica, a plant commonly used for industrial oil production and for ornamental purposes and with high economical value, especially in Central Asia and the Aral Sea region, is feasible. One more goal was to study how it influences growth and development, seed and oil yield and some physiological parameters such as photosynthesis, transpiration, chlorophyll content, osmotic potential and accumulation of fresh and dry weight. The effects of three salinity levels, 3, 6 and 9 dS m−1, were investigated in a greenhouse experiment during two consecutive years. Results of this study showed that growth of Crambe abyssinica in arid zones and irrigation with mild saline water up to EC 6 dS m−1, mostly common in these areas is feasible, suggesting tolerance to moderate salinity levels and feasibility of its culture in areas of the Aral Sea with adequate salinity levels. Consequently, in spite of the fact that biomass and seed yield were significantly decreased in plants irrigated with brackish water, Crambe abyssinica might be cultivated as an alternate source of green biomass and for industrial vegetable oil under conditions not suitable for conventional plant production.
and A. I. GlushenkovaDescurainia sophia L. (Cruciferae) is widely used in folk medicine. The decoction of the aerial part is used in Middle Asia for throat diseases and as an antipyretic for measles and smallpox. In Tibetan medicine, the roots are used for St. Anthony's fire and anthrax. The tincture is used as a diuretic, antihelmintic, and hemostatic for internal hemorrhages. In veterinary medicine, the decoction of roots is used for helmintoses and diarrhea in horses and cattle [1,2].We studied seeds of D. sophia collected in Tashkent district in May 2002. Seeds were ground in an electric grinder and extracted exhaustively with benzine (70-80°C) for extraction to afford a yellowish-brown oil in 22% yield. Total lipids were separated by preparative TLC on silica-gel plates using benzine:diethylether (4:1). The contents of individual fractions were estimated gravimetrically. Table 1 lists the results for benzine separation of the extract of D. sophia seeds.Lipids from seeds contained epoxyacylglycerides according to reaction with picric acid. Their content was 6.4% of the lipid mass. Oxygenated compounds are typically found in seed oil from Cruciferae plants.Total lipids and acyl-containing compounds in them were hydrolyzed by KOH. Fatty acids (FA) were methylated by diazomethane [3] and identified as methyl esters by GC ( Table 2). The lipids contained up to 16 FA. The main acids in total lipids and triglycerides (TAG) were linolenic (18:3), linoleic (18:2), arachic (20:0), and eruchic (22:1). The content of these acids and oleic (18:1) in free fatty acids (FFA) were almost identical from 14.2 to 15.9%; of palmitic (16:0), 12.0%. This is two times greater than in the total acids.The FA composition of seeds from plants studied by us differed little with respect to the content of unsaturated C 18 acids from that reported in a review on screening of seed oils from Cruciferae plants [4]. The difference in flora from Uzbekistan consists of a content of 16:0 and 22:1 acids that is elevated several times.
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