ISHS Acta Horticulturae 629: XXVI International Horticultural Congress: The Future for Medicinal and Aromatic Plants
DRYING TEMPERATURE AND DEVELOPMENTAL STAGE AT HARVEST INFLUENCE THE PARTHENOLIDE CONTENT OF FEVERFEW LEAVES AND STEMS |
| Authors: | J.W. Rushing, R.J. Dufault, R.L. Hassell |
| Keywords: | Medicinal plants, postharvest, Tanacetum parthenium |
| Abstract:
Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium) plants produced during 2000 and 2001 on raised beds and black plastic mulch in four replicated plots were harvested at four stages of development beginning at the early vegetative stage when plants were approximately 40 cm tall and stems were succulent. At approximately 14 day intervals harvest was repeated until the plants had begun to flower. Harvested tissues were dried with forced air at either 40, 60, 70, 80, or 90 C° until the moisture content was in the range of 8 to 10 %. After drying, leaves and stems were separated and parthenolide was extracted and analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography. Drying temperature influenced the amount of parthenolide recovered from dried tissues. Leaves dried at 40 Co had a mean parthenolide content of 0.43 % (dry wt). This decreased linearly with increasing drying temperature, with approximately 25 % less parthenolide following drying at either 80 or 90 C°. Stems typically had approximately one-tenth the amount of parthenolide found in leaves. Harvest date significantly influenced the parthenolide content of leaf, with higher parthenolide in later harvests. Biomass production increased as plants matured, therefore the amount of parthenolide produced per ha increased. Recommendations derived from this research were extended to commercial growers. The results of a pilot project with 8 growers are reviewed. | |
Download Adobe Acrobat Reader (free software to read PDF files) | |
