Edible flowers are used in many different styles of cuisine and can be found on menus all over the world. They are receiving renewed interest as rich sources of bioactive compounds. In culinary, edible flowers can be used fresh, dried, candied etc. The drying prolongs shelf life as well as enables the transporting, packaging and use of edible flowers. The aim of this research was to analyse the influence of various drying methods on the quality of edible flower petals. The study was carried out at the scientific laboratories of the Faculty of Food Technology at Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies. Such drying methods as drying hot air-drying, microwave drying, and freeze-drying were used in this research. Edible petals of garden marigold (Calendula officinalis L.), common daisy (Bellis perennis L.), and true lavender (Lavandula angustifolia L.) from collection of the Laboratory of Horticulture and Apology, attached to the Faculty of Agriculture of Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, were used as plant material. Total phenolic, total flavonoid content and antioxidant activity were determined in this research. All three drying methods had adverse effects on biologically active compounds of the analysed edible flowers petals. Despite the fact that freeze-drying is the most popular method, microwave drying had the most positive effect in terms of bioactive component content in this study. Analysed samples contained a high amount of phenolic compounds (fresh lavender 1026±52 mg GAE 100 g -1 DW and fresh marigold 1058±66 mg GAE 100 g -1 DW) and showed eligible antioxidant effects.
Thymus × citriodorus (Lamiaceae) is medicinal, essential oil-bearing hybrid, synthesizing significant amounts of geraniol. This hybrid is suitable for cultivation in an open ground in the Baltic region; therefore, increasing the yield and amounts of bioactive compounds by organic matter fertilization during organic farming is realized. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of fertilization with liquid cattle dung and humus on the quantitative and qualitative composition of essential oils as well as on biomass for some morphometrical and anatomical parameters of Thymus × citriodorus that were grown in open ground for two years. Each fertilization treatment was carried out on four replications, and four separate experimental plots were used as control plots. For anatomical investigations, the impress method and light microscopy were used. The essential oils were isolated by hydrodistillation and analyzed by GC-FID and GC-MS. The results showed somewhat different effects of liquid cattle dung and humus on the investigated parameters of hybrid in the first (warmer and drier) and second (rainier and cooler) experimental years. Liquid cattle dung had positive effects on biomass, height and the area covered by plants and on the number and length of inflorescences as well as on the density of stomata in the lower epidermis in the first year, but in the second experimental year, effects were observed on the length of inflorescences only. The effect of humus on the density of glandular trichomes in the upper epidermis of leaves was positive in the first year, but negative in the second experimental year. Moreover, in the second experimental year, humus affected negatively the height of plants and the percentage of the essential oil. The conclusion was that although it is fertilized with the same organic fertilizers, different climatic conditions in different years can influence chemical, anatomical and morphometrical parameters of plants growing in an open ground.
Genetic Resources, oregano (Origanum vulgare L.) is included in the List of 'Priority Species' of medicinal and aromatic plants (Barata et al., 2010). Wide use of oregano biomass in phytomedicine, production of essential oil, perfumery, culinary, food and beverage production, beekeeping, etc. is one of the reasons why the wild populations should be conserved. In addition, cultivation of oregano is providing material for further processing. Cultivation of oregano accessions resistant to biotic pathogens is required to ensure high yields and high product quality in agricultural systems.Oregano is susceptible to infectious diseases caused by pathogenic fungi. Several oregano fungal diseases have been reported.In the United States, fungi of the genera Alternaria, Botrytis, Helminthosporium and Stemphylium on leaves, as well as fungi from the genus Pythium, which cause symptoms of root rot have been reported (Farr et al., 1995). In Poland, fungi such as Fusarium spp., Boeremia exigua var. exigua and Rhizoctonia solani had been obtained from roots and stems, but Alternaria alternata, Colletotrichum fuscum and Stemphylium botryosum had been isolated from leaves (Wielgusz and Seidler-Łożykowska, 2017;Zimowska, 2015). Research of fungal diversity on oregano leaves in Latvia identified similar fungi as in the mentioned studies.Members of the Truncatella genus have a wide geographic distribution. They are commonly associated with plants, either as endophytes or as pathogens in a wide array of plant species. Truncatella angustata was first described by Persoon in 1801 under the name Stilbospora angustata, which was subsequently revised to T. angustata (Hughes, 1958). T. angustata has been recognized as an endophyte and a saprotroph but also as a pathogen on various vascular plants in both tropical and temperate regions. It has been reported
European wild garlic (Allium ursinum L.) syn. wood garlic, ramsons or bear’s garlic is a perennial plant that is common in Europe and Asia, but rare in the Mediterranean region. Bear’s garlic is included in the Latvian Red Data Book. The plant species has high commercial value and a high amount of biologically active compounds. Because of the conservation status of wild populations, raw material should be obtained by cultivation. For the experiment, leaves of six accessions of bear’s garlic from the ex situ collection of medicinal and aromatic plants at the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, were used. The aim of this study was to identify the individual phenolic compounds in bear‘s garlic leaves. The composition of the phenolic profile was determined using a high-performance liquid chromatograph (HPLC) Shimadzu Nexera LC-40 with diode-array detector (DAD). Overall, 18 phenolic compounds (gallic acid, 3.5-diOHbenzoic acid, catechin, chlorogenic acid, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, epicatechin, homovanillic acid, caffeic acid, vanillic acid, syringic acid, vanillin, p-coumaric acid, rutin, sinapic acid, ferulic acid, 2-OHcinnamic acid, quercetin, luteolin, and kaempferol) were detected in the samples. The gallic acid was the predominant phenolic compound, with a range in concentration from 75.8 mg·100 g−1 to 322.5 mg·100 g−1 in bear’s garlic.
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