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Medicinal Plant Research 2014, Vol.4, No.6, 46
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Salicylic acid was the highest phenolic compound,
compared to the other fourteen phenolics. Salicylic
was present in high contents in all studied plants
except sage which contained the largest quantity of
pyrogallic acid. Catechol, protocatechenic and
cinnamic acid were the phenolics present in the lowest
quantity. Different plants greatly varied in the contents
of the phenolic compounds. Antioxidant activity
increased as efhanol extract raised from 100 ul to
150 ul and 200 ul extract. Sage showed very strong
antioxidant capacity (91.34% inhibition of peroxidation at
200 ul extract), followed by dragonhead and plantago.
Other plants showed moderate antioxidant activities.
Further work on the effect of organic farming
compared to chemical one on phenolics and
antioxidant activity as well as on different medicinal
plants are suggested
Mohamed and Abdu (2004) reported that seeds of the
aromatic plant
F.
vulgare
were sown in sandy soil with
0 or 2.5 kg/m2 of organic fertilizer (OF); chicken
manure, cattle manure or plant compost. Plants were
irrigated three, four, five or six times at 21-day
intervals commencing 21 days after sowing and
continuing until harvest. Increasing the number of
irrigations and application of organic fertilizers
significantly delayed harvesting. Water stress imposed
by restricting the number of irrigations significantly
decreased plant height, branch number, and fruit and
oil yield, whereas it increased the percentage volatile
oils. All organic fertilizers increased plant growth and
yield parameters. With or without organic fertilization,
the increase in fruit yield with irrigation outweighed
the decrease in volatile oil percentage, so volatile oil
yield increased with irrigation. However, there was no
significant difference in volatile oil yield between five
and six times irrigated plants under any type of
fertilization. By increasing both fruit yield and volatile
oil percentage, organic fertilizers considerably
increased oil yield. Chicken manure fertilized plants
irrigated five or six times gave the highest volatile oil
yields of 2.08 ml and 2.09 ml plant, respectively,
followed by cattle manure fertilized plants irrigated 5
times (1.98 ml plant).
Effect of Salinity
Irrigation of fennel plant with saline water (3355 ppm)
under north Sinai conditions resulted in significant
reduction in vegetative and flowering characters,
consequently fruit yield/plant. The reduction of fruit
yield/plant reached 71.5: 76%. The reduction of oil
yield/plant 54.2: 58.9%. The reduction of anethole
content in oil reached 23.2%. On the contrary the
alternate irrigation with fresh (400 ppm) and saline
water 1: 1 showed less reduction in fruit yield/plant as
19.0: 25.3% and in oil yield/plant 14.2: 21.3%. The
same rate of alternate irrigation 1: 1 fresh: saline did
not largely affect oil constituents as anethole,
fenchone, limonene and ñ-cymene comparing to all
irrigation with saline water at 3355 ppm. Total
nitrogen, total carbohydrates and leaf pigments were
reduced significantly as all irrigation was done with
saline water comparing to alternate irrigation with 1: 1
fresh: saline water. The Efficiency of Using Saline and
Fresh Water Irrigation as Alternating Methods of
irrigation on the Productivity of
F.
vulgare
Subsp.
Vulgare Var. Vulgare under North Sinai Conditions
Pathology
Little leaf disease caused by phytoplasma was for the
first time noticed on
F. vulgare
in the experimental as
well as commercial fields of CIMAP, Lucknow, and
its adjoining areas during the month of Feb., 1998.
The typical symptoms of the disease are characterized
by growth retardation with excessive proliferation of
axillary shoots and production of small, narrow leaves
which altogether give rise to witches-broom
appearance. The severely infected plants turn completely
yellow and fail to produce inflorescence. Disease
incidence has been found to be in the range of
5%~12 % in the commercial fields. Transmission
electron microscopic studies revealed the presence of
pleomorphic bodies only in sieve tube elements of
diseased plants but not in healthy one. They were
variable in size ranging from 110 nm to 970 nm and
resembled closely with ultra-structural details of other
known plant pathogenic phytoplasmas. Most of the
phytoplasma bodies were oval to spherical, some with
budding, and surrounded by a single membrane. The
symptoms of the disease were temporarily suppressed
when treated with tetracycline hydrochloride. This is