Photosynthetic abilities and essential oil content of hydroponic and soil Thuja occidentalis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31989/bchd.v7i10.1457Abstract
Background: Thuja occidentalis is used in folk medicine to treat several diseases, like bronchial catarrh, and rheumatism. It exhibits antimicrobial properties, and many people today incorporate Thuja occidentalis leaves into herbal tea blends for their healing potential. Brewing tea involves extracting chlorophylls, carotenoids, and essential oils from the plant, which may enhance the tea's therapeutic benefits.
Objective: The aim of the study was to estimate the content of chlorophyll a and b, carotenoids, and essential oils in the leaves of Thuja occidentalis grown in Ararat Valley under hydroponic and soil conditions and compare the herbal properties of this plant depending on the growth conditions.
Methods: Plants of Thuja occidentalis were grown under soil and hydroponic conditions. The hydroponic substrates used red and black slags. Hydroponic plants were nourished with the nutrition solution offered by G. Davtyan. The content of chlorophyll a and b, and carotenoids were estimated spectrophotometrically in an alcohol solution of leaves. The essential oil of plant leaves was extracted by hydrodistillation.
Results: In our study, the content of chlorophyll a and b and carotenoids increased in all studied plants from May to July. The highest content of them was recorded in soil plants (chlorophyll a – 7.2-8.8 μg/ml, chlorophyll b – 2.5-3.2 μg/ml and carotenoids – 1.8-2.2 μg/ml). Plants grown in red slag showed slightly higher levels of these components compared with plants grown in black slag, especially in May. The content of essential oil was higher in hydroponic plants (0.5-0.52%), compared with the soil plants (0.3%).
Conclusion: Our study showed that the content of chlorophyll a and b and carotenoids in leaves of Thuja occidentalis changes depending on the studied month and soil plants are inferior to the hydroponic plants in essential oil content. All this supports the idea that the healing abilities and properties of Thuja occidentalis leave depend on the harvesting time and growth condition.
Keywords: chlorophyll a and b, carotenoids, essential oil, Ararat Valley, hydroponics
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 FFC/Bioactive Compounds in Health and Disease
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors retain the copyright of their articles and grant the Functional Food Center (FFC) and its journals the right of first publication under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, including commercial use, provided the original author(s) and source are properly credited. Authors may post and share their published work freely, provided that the original publication in this journal is acknowledged.
By submitting to this journal, authors confirm that their manuscripts are original, not under consideration elsewhere, and that they hold the necessary rights to grant this license. The Functional Food Center encourages open scientific exchange and allows derivative and extended works, provided attribution to the original publication is maintained.