Essential oils of the fruits of three organically grown cultivars of Egyptian fennel (Foeniculum vulgare var. azoricum, Foeniculum vulgare var. dulce and Foeniculum vulgare var. vulgare) were examined for their chemical constituents, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis of the essential oils revealed the presence of 18 major monoterpenoids in all three cultivars but their percentage in each oil were greatly different. trans-Anethole, estragole, fenchone and limonene were highly abundant in all of the examined oils. Antioxidant activities of the essential oils were evaluated using the DPPH radical scavenging, lipid peroxidation and metal chelating assays. Essential oils from the azoricum and dulce cultivars were more effective antioxidants than that from the vulgare cultivar. Antimicrobial activities of each oil were measured against two species of fungi, two species of Gram negative and two species of Gram positive bacteria. All three cultivars showed similar antimicrobial activity. OPEN ACCESSMolecules 2011, 16 1367

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Amaranth can be considered a very interesting crop for the Mediterranean region, thanks to its inherent tolerance to disadvantageous growing conditions, along with the high nutritional and nutraceutical value of its seeds. The study aims to evaluate the seed yield, and the oil content and quality of two amaranth genotypes (species Amaranthus hypochondriacus L. and Amaranthus cruentus L., respectively) grown in central Italy, testing two types of soil (loamy and sandy soil). The two species showed a good performance in the tested environment, with satisfactory seed yield and relative short growth cycle. Significant differences between the two genotypes were observed in terms of seed yield. The crude oil content ranged from 7.5% to 6.0%, with linoleic, palmitic and oleic acids as the major fatty acids of the oil in both genotypes. The unsaponifiable fraction was rich in sterols (campesterol, stigmasterol and β-sitosterol), and interesting levels of squalene were found. This study demonstrated the unique nutraceutical properties of the seeds of two genotypes of A. hypochondriacus and A. cruentus, grown in central Italy environment, as a source of polyunsaturated fatty acid and squalene. These characteristics make amaranth a valuable alternative crop for specialty oil production in the Mediterranean region.

This study was carried out to evaluate the response of Mintha piperita var. citrata (Eau de Cologne mint) to foliar fertilization under Egyptian conditions. This study was carried out on Mintha piperita var. citrata (Eau de Cologne mint) at Sekem Experimental field. Fresh, healthy, insect and disease free suckers were transplanted in furrow at a depth of 4-5 cm as per the treatments. Three weeks later after transplanting, the plants were sprayed with aqueous solution of the test nutrient compounds humic acid (0. 2.5 and 5 g LG 1) and amino spot (0, 1 and 1.5 mL LG 1). The crop was harvested in mid-May (First cutting) and mid-August (Second cutting). Growth and yield characters were measure. The essential oil percentage was determined in both cuts from fresh herb. The essential oil was analyzed by GC/Mass. It can be observed that, humic acid and/or amino spot fertilizer (Algae extract) had a significant effect on growth characters during both cuts. Increasing amino spot doses increased growth characters (plant height, herb fresh and dry weight) at all doses in the two cuts. The results show that there were clear significantly positive trend in increasing growth characters by spraying of humic acid. The interaction effect was significant in both cuts, the highest values of plant height, herb fresh and dry weight (g plantG 1) were produced from the treatment sprayed with humic acid at 5 g LG 1 +amino spot at 1.5 mL LG 1 , followed by the treatment sprayed with 2.5 g LG 1 humic acid+1.5 mL LG 1 amino spot at the two cuts. During the 1st cut, humic acid or amino spot fertilizer had a significant effect on essential oil percentage and yield (mL plantG 1) while, all treatments produced significant effect on oil percentage and oil yield (mL plantG 1) except the interaction treatments, which had no significant effect on essential oil percentage during second cut. Linalool and linalyl acetate were the main constituents of essential oil of this plant. All treatments or cuttings had a pronounced effect on essential oil constituents. Based on the experimental results it is recommended to treat Mintha piperita var. citrata (Eau de Cologne mint) plants with humic acid at 5 g LG 1 +amino spot at 1.5 mL LG 1 to produce high mass production and oil yield.

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