ISHS Acta Horticulturae 676: III WOCMAP Congress on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants - Volume 2: Conservation, Cultivation and Sustainable Use of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants
ALKALOID AND ESSENTIAL OIL CONCENTRATION IN DIFFERENT POPULATIONS OF PEUMUS BOLDUS |
| Authors: | H. Vogel, I. Razmilic, P. Acevedo, B. González |
| Keywords: | boldo leaves, progenies, genetic variability, flavonoids, ascaridole |
| Abstract:
Boldo (Peumus boldus) is a medicinal tree or shrub native to the Mediterranean climatic zone of Chile. The perennial leaves are used in medicine for their digestive, choleretic, and liver-protection properties. The total production of 1,500 t dried leaves per year is wild crafted. Three different boldo populations were chosen for selection purposes and their progenies were studied for alkaloid and essential oil production. Thirty individuals were analyzed in each wild population in 1996 and 2002. No differences in essential oil concentration (1.3-1.6 ml/100 g dry weight (DW) were found for these populations. Progenies were grown for five years under the same field conditions and analyzed over the last three years. The progeny of the northern population had significantly higher essential oil content than the others (3.5 ml/100 g DW and 2.0-2.6 ml/100 g DW, respectively) and showed the highest alkaloid concentration in its natural habitat (0.34% versus 0.20 and 0.22%, respectively) but progenies did not differ in alkaloid content (0.17-0.20%). Wild populations had significantly higher alkaloid concentrations than the cultivated progenies but lower essential oil content. The progenies of the northern and central population showed differences in essential oil content between half-sib families. As boldo is a dioecious species with cloning difficulties, populations rather than individuals should be selected. Results of this study suggest that future cultivation of boldo use seeds from populations with the highest essential oil and alkaloid concentration. | |
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