Genetic Assessment, Propagation and Chemical Analysis of Flowers of Rosa damascena Mill. Genotypes Cultivated in Greece

Abstract

Rosa damascena Mill. is commercially the most important rose species used to produce essential oils. The plants of this species, cultivated in the district of Western Macedonia (Greece) for rose oil production, originated from indigenous genotypes but also nurseries abroad, mainly from Bulgaria. The present study investigated the genetic relationship between nine genotypes of R. damascena from Greece, one genotype from Turkey, three genotypes from Bulgaria and three genotypes from France using the molecular markers ISSR and SCoT. Also, the rooting ability of shoot cuttings from these nine genotypes was investigated by applying 2 g/L of the rooting regulator K-IBA. In addition, petals were chemically analyzed using GC-MS and LC-MS to identify the compounds that are the main components of the rose oil. The nine rose genotypes of R. damascena, cultivated in Greece, one from Turkey and one of the three genotypes from Bulgaria were clustered in one clade in the dendrogram. The other two genotypes from Bulgaria were clustered in a separate clade that demonstrated the existence of genetic diversity among the three Bulgarian genotypes, while the French genotypes were clustered in a third clade. The shoot cuttings rooted relatively easily (55–70%) with the application of K-IBA, without any significant differences among the nine genotypes. Large variation was observed among the nine genotypes in the main volatile compounds of the flower petal extracts, which are related to rose oil components. For these compounds, the concentrations in μg/g of the fresh petal weight were 2-phenylethylalcohol (1148.35–2777.19), nerol (27.45–64.93), citronellol (88.45–206.59), geraniol (69.12–170.99) and nonadecane (209.27–533.15). Of the non-volatile compounds, gallic acid was the most abundant phenolic acid in the petal extracts of the nine genotypes (0.28–0.82 μg/g), while for the flavonoids, quercetin and kaempferol variations of 0.35–1.17 μg/g and 0.26–2.13 μg/g were recorded, respectively.

Genetic Characterization of Gardenia jasminoides Ellis Genotypes Derived from Seeds and Selection Based on Their Morphological Traits and Flower Aromatic Substances

“…However, there are several reports of their use on various plant species, such as Pistacia vera [44], Laurus nobilis [45], Diospyros sp. [46] and Rosa damascena [47]. According to our results, both ISSR and SCoT markers successfully estimated the genetic diversity in the G. jasminoides genotypes studied, thus being useful and reliable tools for assessing plant genetic relationships.…”

“…Agriculture 2024, 14, x FOR PEER REVIEW 14 of 18 The quantification of the aromatic compounds of interest in fragrant flowers (from which flower essential oil is obtained) is directly related to the amount of these compounds contained in the essential oil [47]. Thus, the direct detection and quantification of these compounds in the petals of flowers is a rapid method that can be used in the chemotype determination and easy selection of genotypes that produce aromatic compounds of interest.…”

Investigation of Rosa species by an optimized LC‐QTOF‐MS/MS method using targeted and non‐targeted screening strategies combined with multivariate chemometrics

“…The genotypes came from remote areas (Chios Island, Corfu Island, and Halkidiki), so their last common ancestor probably lived relatively long ago. On the contrary, in R. damascena , all the genotypes come from the same region (Kozani), and according to a recent publication by Ziogou et al, 41 who studied the genetic distance of the specific genotypes (D7 is the same genotype as KZ1, D8 is KZ2, D12 is KZ3, and D19 is KZ6), the plant material does not exhibit genetic differentiation and their last common ancestor probably lived relatively recently (probably in nurseries in Bulgaria). This possible differentiation of the genetic material of the R. centifolia genotypes is translated into a chemical difference with the result that the genotypes differ from each other, while in the case of R. damascena , due to the genetic similarity there is no distinction between the genotypes.…”