IN SITU AND IN VITRO COMPARATIVE STUDY ON THE BIOPRODUCTIVITY OF ARNICAE FOLIUM ET CAULIS FROM THE NORTHERN AREA OF THE ROMANIAN EASTERN CARPATHIANS

摘要

Arnica montana L. is an important plant bioresource, being traditionally used as medicinal plant, for which the scientific and economic interest remains at a high level. The aim of our study was to evaluate the bioproductivity for Arnicae folium et caulis in terms of biomass and content in biological active compounds originating from the wild populations and in vitro experimental cultures – under controlled environment. In situ biomass production registered variations, probably due to the different environmental features and also to the management strategies for each site. The development of in vitro cultures had as purpose the evaluation of the biomass production and production of plant material for the phytochemical screening. The Arnicae folium et caulis samples harvested from the wild populations have a higher content in phenolic acids than the Arnicae flos from the same area, but the total content in sesquiterpen-lactones was significantly lower. In contrast, the samples originating from the in vitro cultures had a low content in phenolic compounds and a high content in sesquiterpen-lactones, comparable with Arnicae flos .