ISHS Acta Horticulturae 390: Internat. Symposium on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants
OPTIMIZATION OF ANGELICA PLANTING DENSITIES AND PRODUCTION CYCLES FOR MEDICINAL PURPOSES |
| Authors: | N. Tremblay, M.H. Michaud, L. LaFlamme |
| Keywords: | Active ingredient, Angelica archangelica L., Coumarins, Root, Schedule, Yield |
| Abstract:
Angelica is a biennial plant grown primarily for its roots. This study aimed at determining which planting and harvesting periods give the best results, together with the performance of angelica at high planting densities. Dry matter yield was 12% higher with planting in fall (FP) than it was with planting in spring (SP). The fall harvest (FH) produced a mean of 3.0 t/ha of dry matter, while the spring harvest (SH) produced 2.3 t/ha. However, yield as measured by fresh root weight was higher with SH. Dry matter yield showed a linear increase with planting density: 2.5 t/ha for D1 (55,555 plants/ha), 2.6 t/ha for D2 (74,074 plants/ha) and 3.0 t/ha for D3 (111,111 plants/ha). Active ingredient (coumarins) levels were higher than the standard (100%) in every case. Both harvesting period and planting density had a significant impact on one of the two coumarins determined, which were 297% with SH, 169% with FH, and 245%, 215% and 239% with D1, D2 and D3, respectively. No interaction between variables appeared to have a significant impact on yield. Thus, high-density fall planting and harvest in fall of the following year would maximize dry root yield and ensure that roots contained satisfactory concentrations of active ingredients. | |
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