First experiments on cultivation of Nepeta binaludensis Jamzad - an example of domestication of a highly endangered medicinal plant of Iran

摘要

Nepeta binaludensis Jamzad is a rare and highly endangered ethnomedicinal plant of the Lamiaceae family which grows in the northeast of Iran. A field experiment was conducted with biennial cultivation of the plant in 2006 and 2007 at the University of Mashhad to evaluate its domestication performance. Different experiments were set up to clarify the effects of cultivation on the establishment, phenology, yield and the morphological and phytochemical properties of the plant. These experiments included irrigation intervals (7, 14, 21 and 28 days), cow manure application (10, 20, 30 and 40 t/ha) and row spacing of 50 and 75 cm and in-row spacing of 25 and 50 cm. The results indicated that N. binaludensis can be well established in an agricultural system. The highest biomass (1105 gm~(-2)), plant height (50 cm), plant diameter (48 cm), essential oil yield (5.1 gm~(-2)) and 4aa,7a,7aa-nepetalactone concentration (14.8%) were observed at an irrigation interval of 7 days in the second year of the study. The highest amount of eucalyptol (1,8-cineole) was obtained at an irrigation interval of 21 days in both years of the study. The effects of cow manure on biomass, essential oil content and chemical components were not statistically significant. The whole growth period of N. binaludensis was nearly 206-214 days which was equivalent to 2 792-2 826 growing degree days (GDD). Plant distances did not affect the biomass and essential oil content significantly.