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Title: Nutrient uptake, biomass yield and quantitative analysis of aliphatic aldehydes in cilantro plants

Author
item DONEGA, MATEUS - Universidad De Sao Paulo
item MELLO, SIMONE - Universidad De Sao Paulo
item MORAES, RITA - University Of Mississippi
item Cantrell, Charles

Submitted to: Industrial Crops and Products
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/2/2013
Publication Date: 6/2/2013
Citation: Donega, M.A., Mello, S.C., Moraes, R.M., Cantrell, C.L. 2013. Nutrient uptake, biomass yield and quantitative analysis of aliphatic aldehydes in cilantro plants. Industrial Crops and Products. 44:127-131.

Interpretive Summary: Coriandrum sativum L. is an annual herb commonly known as cilantro or coriander from the family Apiaceae. The unique flavor and aroma attract consumers and the leaves are typically sold fresh, frozen or dried. The essential oils found in cilantro seeds and leaves have become increasingly popular as alternative sources of natural preservative agents and as functional foods. The objective of this study was to evaluate the nutrient uptake, biomass production and yield of the major compounds in the essential oil of five genotypes of Coriandrum sativum L. The treatments were four accessions donated by the National Genetic Resources Advisory Council (NGRAC), U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (USDA/ARS) germplasm: (“AMES 18596”; “PI171592”; “AMES 4998” and “PI193770”) and one commercially available cultivar, (Santo). Plants were harvested 50 days after sowing and evaluated for nutrient uptake, the number of leaves, fresh and dry weight of shoot per plant and yield of major compounds in the essential oil. Our data suggests that K uptake at high levels for all accessions is critical for cilantro’s optimum growth and development, while Fe played a similar role among the micronutrients. Under optimum nutrient supply to the plants, the accessions AMES 18596 and PI 193770 produced more leaf biomass. The yield of the major compounds in the essential oil was also higher for accessions AMES 18596 and PI 193770.

Technical Abstract: The objective of this study was to evaluate the nutrient uptake, biomass production and yield of the major compounds in the essential oil of five genotypes of Coriandrum sativum L. The treatments were four accessions donated by the National Genetic Resources Advisory Council (NGRAC), U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (USDA/ARS) germplasm: (“AMES 18596”; “PI171592”; “AMES 4998” and “PI193770”) and one commercially available cultivar, (Santo). Plants were harvested 50 days after sowing and evaluated for nutrient uptake, the number of leaves, fresh and dry weight of shoot per plant and yield of major compounds in the essential oil. Accessions AMES 18596 and PI171592 presented the following order of accumulation of macronutrients: K>N>Ca>Mg>P>S. For the Accessions AMES 4998, PI 193770 and Santo cultivar, the order K>N>Ca>P>Mg>S was observed. Micronutrients accumulation in cilantro shoot in descending order for all genotypes was: Fe>Zn>B>Mn>Cu . The highest number of leaves per plant was found in the accession AMES 18596 (9.94), while the others produced on average 7.24. Accessions AMES 18596 and PI 193770 produced 7.34 micrograms per plant of fresh weight of shoots per plant. Accession PI 171592 produced slightly higher yields (6.23 micrograms per plant) than the cultivar Santo and AMES 4998 (4.75 micrograms per plant). For dry weight of shoots, accessions AMES 18596 and PI 193770 produced the highest yields (0.58 micrograms per plant), followed by PI171592 (0.47 micorgrams per plant) and the accession AMES 4998 and Santo cultivar that had on average 0.35 micrograms per plant. The yield of the major compounds in the essential oil was higher for accessions AMES 18596 and PI 193770 (88.84 micrograms per plant) following by AMES 4998 and Santo (38.95 micorgrams per plant) and PI171592 (23.31 microgram per plant). On average the yield of aliphatic aldehydes in the essential oil followed the order: trans-2-dodecenal> decanal> trans-2-decenal> tetradecenal>dodecanal>tetradecanal.