Bilal Gürbüz

Chemical compositions and antibacterial activities of the essential oils from aerial parts and corollas of Origanum acutidens (Hand.-Mazz.) Ietswaart, an endemic species to Turkey.

Essential oils extracted by hydrodistillation from the aerial parts and corollas of Origanum acutidens (Hand.-Mazz.) Ietswaart, an endemic Turkish flora species, were analyzed by GC-MS. The amounts of essential oil obtained from the aerial parts and the corollas were 0.73% and 0.93%, respectively. Twenty-five components in both the aerial parts oil and the corolla oil, representing 95.11% and 93.88%, respectively, were identified. The aerial parts and corolla oils were characterized by the predominance of two components: p-cymene (9.43% and 17.51%) and carvacrol (67.51% and 52.33%), respectively. The essential oils were also evaluated for their antimicrobial activity against ten bacteria by the disc diffusion assay. Our findings showed the following order in the sensitivity to the essential oils, as indicated by the corresponding inhibition zones: Proteus vulgaris > Salmonella typhimurium > Enterobacter cloacae > Klebsiella pneumonia > Escherichia coli > Serratia marcescens > Pseudomonas aeruginosa for the aerial parts essential oil, and Salmonella typhimurium > Proteus vulgaris > Enterobacter cloacae > Escherichia coli > Klebsiella pneumoniae > Serratia marcescens > Pseudomonas aeruginosa for the corolla essential oil. The studied essential oils thus exhibited a broad-spectrum of activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, whereas the tested Gram-positive bacteria were more susceptible to the essential oil samples.

Efficient in vitro bulblet regeneration from immature embryos of endangered Sternbergia fischeriana

Sternbergia fischeriana is an endangered geophyte and therefore in vitro micropropagation of this plant will have great importance for germplasm conservation and commercial production. Bulb scale and immature embryo explants of S. fischeriana were cultured on different nutrient media supplemented with various concentrations of plant growth regulators. Immature embryos produced higher number of bulblets than bulb scales. Large numbers of bulblets were regenerated (over 80 bulblets/explants) from immature embryos on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 4 mg l−1 6-benzylaminopurine (BA) and 0.25 mg l−1α-naphthaleneacetic (NAA) or 2 mg l−12,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) after 14 months of culture initiation. Regenerated bulblets were kept at 5 °C for 5 weeks and then transplanted to a potting mixture.

Characteristics of fatty acids and essential oil from sweet fennel ( Foeniculum vulgare Mill. var. dulce) and bitter fennel fruits (F. vulgare Mill. var. vulgare) growing in Turkey

Oil content in sweet and bitter fennels was obtained 12.22% and 14.41%, respectively. The C18:1 c6, C18:2, C18:1 c9 and C16:0 acids corresponding to ∼97% of total oil was recorded as principal fatty acids. The ratios of essential oil from sweet and bitter fennels were found similar (average 3.00%). trans-Anethole, estragole and fenchone were found to be the main constituents in both fennels. The compound with the highest value in the two oil samples was trans-anethole as 95.25% (sweet) and 75.13% (bitter). While estragole was found in bitter fennel oil in a remarkable amount (15.51%), sweet fennel oil contained small amounts of estragole (2.87%). Fenchone was found <1% in sweet and ∼5% in bitter fennel. p-Anisaldehyde in bitter fennel essential oil, and α-pinene and γ-terpinene in sweet fennel essential oil were not recorded, and these compounds were found very low or <1%.

Effects of Different Zinc Levels on Vegetative Growth and Essential Oil Contents of some Iranian and Turkish Cumin (Cumin cyminum L.) Genotypes

Abstract Cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.), originated from East Mediterranean country of Egypt, is widely cultivated in Middle Eastern, Asia minor and South East Asian countries. Zn is an essential factor in tryptophan metabolism and affects auxin contents in plants. In order to evaluate effects of Zn on vegetative growth, grain yield and its components on cumin genotypes, a field experiment was carried out at the department of field crops Ankara University; Turkey using randomized complete blocks split plot design with four replications during 2011 growing season. Four amounts of Zn (0, 1.5, 3 and 4.5 kg ha-1) in the form of soil application, were allocated at main plots and six genotypes [Kashmar, Bardskan, Mashhad (Iranian-origin)], [Haymana, Turkman and Egebin, (Turkish-origin)] were assigned to sub plots. Analysis of variance results showed significant interaction of zinc levels and genotypes for traits like root heights, grain yield, total dry matter, number of branches per plant and grain essential oil (p<0.01). Applications of different Zn levels was better than control in grain yield and its components. The highest amount of grain yield and essential oil (3.64%) was recorded using 3kg ha-1 Zn application. Grain yield had significant and positive correlation with plant height (r=0.95**) and root length (r=0.95**). Root length (3.59) and total dry maater (2.71), had the most positive direct effects and incontrast plant height (-1.63), number of branches per plant (-2.33) had negative direct effect on grain yield. At the regression model based on grain yield as a dependent variable, traits of plant height, root length, total dry matter, number of branches per plant and oil yield remained at the final model. Concerning essential oil constituents, β-terpinene was the major compound followed by p-cymene and β-pinene. Highest γ-terpinene content (49.14%) was recorded in Kashmar genotype using 3 kg ha-1 Zn.

Volatile Constituents Variability in Matricaria chamomilla L. From Ankara, Turkey

Abstract Variations in the essential oil composition of Matricaria chamomilla L. for a two-year trial were determined. The flowers of Matricaria chamomilla L. were collected from Ankara University gardens in the years of 2011 and 2012. Essential oils were prepared by the hydrodistillation of air-dried plants and analyzed by GC-MS methods. A total of 20 and 16 components were identified, representing over 96.6 % and 93.4 % of the total oil percentage for 2011 and 2012, respectively. The dominant constituents for 2011 were bisabolone oxide (47.6 %), bisabolol oxide A (27.4 %) and en-yn-dicycloether (5.6 %). As for 2012, the principal biologically active compound was bisabolol oxide A (75.4 %), followed by en-yn-dicycloether (4.4 %) and bisabolol oxide B (4.1 %).

Effect of Different Fruit Sizes on Essential Oil Ratio and Components of Coriander

Abstract: The present research was conducted to determine the effects of different fruit sizes on essential oil content and major essential oil components of coriander in the year 2012. Two different coriander cultivars (Arslan and Gürbüz) and three different sieve sizes (2, 3.15 and 4 mm) were used to separate the fruits into different size groups. Results revealed that essential oil contents varied between 0.23 - 0.34 %. Essential oil content of cultivar Arslan decreased with increasing fruit sizes, but an increase was observed in essential oil contents of Gürbüz with increasing fruit sizes. Linalool was observed as the major component. Linalool contents of coriander cultivars varied between 85.66 - 78.94 %. Following the linalool, respectively γ-terpinene, camphor and geraniol were determined as the other major components. The fruit size group of A1 (2 - 3.15 mm) of cultivar Arslan yielded the highest essential oil content (0.34 %) and the highest linalool content (85.66 %).

Comparison of Essential Oil Components of Salvia forskahlei L. Collected from Nature and Cultivated

Abstract The objective of present study was to compare essential oil components of Salvia forskahlei L. collected from nature and cultivated. Experiment materials were collected from Zonguldak province (in Turkey) and cultivated in Faculty of Agriculture of Ankara University. Essential oil components were analyzed by GC-MS. According to results, there were significant differences in terms of essential oil content and components of Salvia forskahlei. The essential oil content varied from 0.01 to 0.10 %. The essential oil components varied depending on climatic and geographic factors. Thirteen components in Salvia forskahlei were determined in nature and germacrene D and β-caryophyllene were the main components of essential oil, representing 19.4 % and 23.6 %, respectively. Germacrene D (29.2 %), α-cadinol (21.2 %) and δ-cadinene (20.5 %) were the major components at first, second and third cutting of 2008, respectively.

Genomic DNA extraction from seed induced callus and explants in Salvia L. species for utilization in secondary metabolite production

Salvia, the largest genus of Lamiaceae, includes about 900 species, widespread throughout the world. This genus is represented, in Turkish flora, by 88 species and 93 taxa, 45 of which are endemic. Some members of this genus are of economic importance since they have been used as flavoring agents in perfumery and cosmetics. Despite the medicinal potential of plants in Turkey being considerable, knowledge of this area and studies on these crops is scarce. Including Salvia L. species, in some medicinal plants low callus production, especially leave-based ones, is the main problem in in vitro culture, due to phenolic compounds. Callus induction, therefore, from plants non-specialized tissues, for example, seeds, is inevitable. The six species of Salvia L. growing naturally in Anatolia (Salvia aetopis L., Salvia cadmica Boiss., Salvia candidissima Vahl ssp. occidentalis Hedge, Salvia cryptantha Montbret et Aucher ex Bentham (endemic to Turkey), Salvia tomentosa Miller and Salvia verticillata L. ssp. verticillata L.) were selected. Callus of the seeds of the aforementioned species was initiated on MS basal media supplemented with combinations of indole-butyric acid (IBA) and picloram. Varied mass callus induction was observed in all media but, Salvia tomentosa Miller was found to be most efficient species in callusing. Moreover, applying the Lefort method, the extracted genomic DNA for all the samples was pure and ideal.