Environmental Effects on Peppermint (Mentha piperita L.). I. Effect of Daylength, Photon Flux Density, Night Temperature and Day Temperature on the Yield and Composition of Peppermint Oil

Abstract

Long days (16 h light), high photon flux density (1200 pEm-'s-l) and high night temperature (20°C) resulted in the highest oil yield.Daylength, night temperature, day temperature and photon flux density were important interacting factors determining oil composition. The photosynthate model proposed by Burbott and Loomis (Plant Physiol., 1967, 42, 20-8) explained the effect of environmental factors with respect to pulegone, menthone and menthofuran. Factors favouring the maintenance of high levels of photosynthate resulted in high concentrations of menthone and low concentrations of pulegone and menthofuran. The photosynthate model does not explain the effect of environmental factors on several other monoterpenes.

Mathematical Modeling-Guided Evaluation of Biochemical, Developmental, Environmental, and Genotypic Determinants of Essential Oil Composition and Yield in Peppermint Leaves

“…It has been known that, when peppermint plants are grown at low-light intensities, water deficit, or high night temperatures, poor quality oils with elevated amounts of the undesirable metabolites (+)-pulegone and (+)-menthofuran are produced with concomitant decreases in oil yield (Burbott and Loomis, 1967;Clark and Menary, 1980). To reproduce such environmental conditions, WT-GH control plants, wild-type plants under water deficit (50% of regular volume of fertilizer mix; designated WT-LW), wild-type plants at decreased light intensity (roughly 30% of regular photon flux; designated WT-LL), or wild-type plants under conditions with a combination of low light intensities (as above) and high night temperatures (constant day and night temperatures at 30°C; designated WT-LL/HT) were used.…”

“…To test these modeling predictions experimentally, we first acquired biometric data with peppermint plants grown under several environmental conditions known to adversely affect oil accumulation (Burbott and Loomis, 1967;Clark and Menary, 1980) and the transgenic line MFS7a, for which an altered essential oil profile had been reported earlier (Mahmoud and Croteau, 2001). Building on these experimental data sets, we then developed a second generation model that accounts for biochemical, developmental, environmental, and genotypic factors of essential oil formation.…”

Development of mint (Mentha piperita L.) grown on biosolids: evaluation of productivity and essential oil content

“…However, some studies have established that a satisfactory development depends on suitable environmental conditions, including mineral nutrition (Piccaglia et al, 1993;Patra and Anwar, 2000;Leal, 2001). Essential oil of M. piperita L. is extracted from the shoot, mainly from the plant leaves, and oil content can be related to matter accumulation in these parts (Clark and Menary, 1980;Czepak, 1998). According to Czepak (1998), the higher the yield of dry matter of plants, the higher the essential oil yield would be.…”

Developmental Regulation of Monoterpene Biosynthesis in the Glandular Trichomes of Peppermint

“…Both developmental and environmental factors are known to markedly influence the yield and composition of peppermint oil, with obvious consequences for the commercial production of this commodity (Burbott and Loomis, 1967;Clark and Menary, 1980); however, the means by which these variables exert regulatory control over the pathway flux to isopentenyl diphosphate and the specific steps of monoterpene metabolism are not known. Recent studies at the level of the intact plant indicate that monoterpene production (measured by incorporation of 14 CO 2 ) is restricted to leaves 12 to 20 d of age, prior to full expansion, and that metabolic turnover of oil components (Mihaliak et al, 1991) and evaporative losses of oil from the storage compartment play only minor roles in determining oil yield and composition (Gershenzon et al, 2000).…”