Andréa Santos da Costa

Estabelecimento de alecrim-pimenta in vitro

Lippia sidoides Cham. is a native shrub from the semi-arid region of Northeast Brazil. Its essential oil has high commercial value, due to the major compounds thymol and carvacrol, which have strong antimicrobial and antiseptic properties. The effect of concentrations and immersion time in sodium hypochlorite, culture media, the use of antibiotic and antioxidants on in vitro establishment of L. sidoides were evaluated. The assays were conducted in a completely randomized design. We evaluated the concentrations 0.2; 0.4; 0.6 and 0.8% of sodium hypochlorite and 8; 12; 16 and 20 minutes of immersion, in a 4 x 4 factorial scheme; the concentrations 0; 50; 100; 150 and 200 mg L-1 of cefotaxime sodium; the medium cultures MS, B5 and WPM; and the effect of antioxidants (PVP: 0.5 and 2 g L-1; and activated charcoal: 3 and 12 g L-1). The concentration of 0.8% of sodium hypochlorite resulted in a significantly higher (p<0.01) number of leaves per shoot: 1.88. For the other characteristics we did not observe any significant effect of sodium hypochlorite concentrations: the contamination varied from 33.7 to 50.6%; the number of new shoots varied from 1.17 to 1.65, and the number of leaves per explant varied from 1.77 to 3.07. Although we did not observe significant difference for immersion times, 12 and 16 minutes of immersion tend to result in minor contamination. Increasing the immersion time from 16 to 20 minutes tends to induce a reduction of new shoots (form 1.52 to 1.22), number of leaves per explant (from 2.62 to 1.81) and number of leaves per shoot (from 1.70 to 1.24). The use of cefotaxime sodium reduced significatively the bacterial contamination (55.23% at the control treatment; 9.99% at the 200 mg L-1 concentration), increasing the survival of explants from 0 (control) to 37.32% (200 mg L-1). The medium cultures offered statistically identical results. All the evaluated antioxidants, even at the lowest concentrations, reduced the oxidation from 50% (control) to as little as 10%. For in vitro establishment of L. sidoides nodal segments, the results indicate immersion of explants for 16 minutes in a 0.8% sodium hypochlorite solution, 200 mg L-1 of cefotaxime sodium, WPM, MS or B5 culture medium, and 3.0 g L-1 of activated charcoal or 0.5 g L-1 of PVP.

Chemical diversity in basil (Ocimum sp.) germplasm.

The present study aimed to chemically characterize 31 accessions and seven cultivars of basil. The percentage composition of the essential oils of the accessions and cultivars was based on the 14 most abundant constituents: 1,8-cineole, linalool, methyl chavicol, neral, nerol, geraniol, geranial, methyl cinnamate, β-bourbonene, methyl eugenol, α-trans-bergamotene, germacrene-D, epi-α-cadinol, and δ-cadinene. The genetic materials were classified into eight clusters according to the chemical composition of the essential oils: Cluster 1—mostly linalool and 1,8-cineole; Cluster 2—mostly linalool, geraniol, and α-trans-bergamotene; Cluster 3—mostly linalool, methyl chavicol, methyl cinnamate, and β-bourbonene; Cluster 4—mostly linalool, methyl chavicol, epi-α-cadinol, and α-trans-bergamotene; Cluster 5—mainly linalool, methyl eugenol, α-trans-bergamotene, and epi-α-cadinol; Cluster 6—mainly linalool, geraniol, and epi-α-cadinol; Cluster 7—mostly linalool and methyl chavicol; Cluster 8—mainly geranial and neral.

The Impact of Hybridization on the Volatile and Sensorial Profile of Ocimum basilicum L.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the volatile and sensorial profile of basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) by quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA) of the essential oil of three hybrids (“Cinnamon” × “Maria Bonita,” “Sweet Dani” × “Cinnamon,” and “Sweet Dani” × “Maria Bonita”). Twelve descriptive terms were developed by a selected panel that also generated the definition of each term and the reference samples. The data were subjected to ANOVA, Tukeys test, and principal component analysis. The hybrid “Cinnamon” × “Maria Bonita” exhibited a stronger global aroma that was less citric than the other samples. Hybridization favored the generation of novel compounds in the essential oil of the hybrid “Sweet Dani” × “Maria Bonita,” such as canfora and (E)-caryophyllene; (E)-caryophyllene also was a novel compound in the hybrid “Sweet Dani” × “Cinnamon”; this compound was not present in the essential oils of the parents.

Micropropagação, aclimatização, teor e composição química do óleo essencial de genótipos de hortelã japonesa

® (3-12-6) pode ser indicado para a aclimatizacao de mudas micropropagadas dos genotipos de hortela japonesa avaliados. A micropropagacao nao alterou o teor de oleo essencial e foram identificados 17 constituintes quimicos, perfazendo um total de 92 a 99%. Palavras-chave - Mentha arvensis. Substrato. Planta medicinal e aromatica. Cultura de tecidos. Mentol. Abstract - Japanese mint (Mentha arvensis L.) is an aromatic species originated from South China and its essential oil is rich in menthol, which is used in the pharmaceutical, food and cosmetic industries. The aim of this work was to develop a protocol for micropropagation and acclimatization of japanese mint genotypes and analyze the chemical composition of the essential oils from micropropagated and not micropropagated plants. Nodal segments are the most indicated for micropropagation of the M. arvensis genotypes. The concentration of 4.4 µM of IAA promoved higher number of shoots and leaves per explant of the MA701-02 genotype when compared with the others. The use of 4,4 mM of IAA and 9,3 mM of KIN + 8,9 mM of BAP + 2,2 mM of IAA resulted in major dry mass accumulation at genotype MA701-02. Major dry mass accumulation of genotype MA701-04 was promoted when 8,9 mM BAP + 5,4 mM NAA was used. The substrate coconut dust + 1 g L -1 of limestone + 12 g L -1 of Biosafra ® (3-12-6) can be indicated to acclimatization of micropropagated pla ntlets of the tested japanese mint genotypes. Micropropagation did not change essential oil content and 17 chemical constituents were indentified, totalizing 92 to 99%.

In vitro establishment of pepper-rosmarin nodal segments

Pepper-rosmarin (Lippia sidoides Cham.) is a native medicinal plant from the Brazilian biome Caatinga. Its high economical importance comes from the antimicrobial properties of thymol and carvacrol, both present in the pepper-rosmarin essential oil. Nodal segments of pepper-rosmarin were established in vitro to evaluate different growth regulators. We tested four concentrations of IBA (0.0; 0.01; 0.05; and 0.1 mg L-1) combined with six concentrations of BAP (0.0; 0.1; 0.5; 1.0; 2.0; and 4.0 mg L-1) in assay 1; five concentrations of NAA (0.0; 0.1; 0.25; 0.5; and 1.0 mg L-1) in assay 2; two concentrations of NAA (0.0 and 0.01 mg L-1) combined with five concentrations of kinetin (0.0; 0.25; 0.5; 1.0; and 2.0 mg L-1) in assay 3; five concentrations of IAA (0.0; 0.5; 1.0; 1.5; and 2.0 mg L-1) in assay 4; and five concentrations of GA3 (0.0; 0.1; 0.5; 1.0; and 1.5 mg L-1) in assay 5. The use of BAP, IBA, NAA and KIN did not influence the number of shoots. The addition of 0.1 mg L-1 of NAA at the culture medium resulted in larger shoot length per explant, while the concentration of 1.0 mg L-1 of kinetin promoted larger shoot length in general. GA3 did not affect the elongation of pepper-rosmarin shoots when cultivated in vitro.