Study of Phenological, Morphological and Phytochemical Characteristics of Ajwain (Trachyspermum ammi L.) Genotypes

Document Type : Scientific - Research

Authors

• Mahdi Faravani ¹
• Narjes Azizi ¹
• Abdoul Karim Negari ¹
• Majid ranjbar ¹
• Ali ashraf Jafari ²

¹ Khorasan Razavi Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, AREEO, Mashhad, Iran

² Forest and Rangeland Research Institute

10.22067/jag.v11i3.73235

Abstract

Introduction
Trachyspermum ammi (L.) Sprague or commonly Ajwain is an herbaceous herb belonging to the family Apiaceae and vastly grows in Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India as well as European regions. Known as Zenyan or Nankhah in medical and pharmaceutical manuscript of medieval Persia, seeds of Ajwain were highly used by traditional healers for different ailments. Due to its various chemical constituents, the herb seeds were also evaluated for its numerous pharmacological properties. Moreover, numbers of chemical constituents have been reported for the herb. In addition, fiber (11.9%), carbohydrates (24.6%), tannins, glycosides, moisture (8.9%), protein (17.1%), fat (21.1%), saponins, flavones and other components (7.1%) involving calcium, phosphorous, iron, cobalt, copper, iodine, manganese, thiamine, riboflavin and nicotinic acid are of reported phytochemical constituents of Ajwain. Other studies showed that there was a difference among investigated ecotypes of Ajwain for following characters including plant height, number of branches, number of umbels, number of umbellets in an inflorescence, biological yield, single plant yield, and for number of secondary branches and oil content at 5% probability level. According to high correlation analysis between grain and oil yields, breeding for these two traits can be consistent in Iranian ecotypes of Ajwain. Oil contents percentage in ecotypes from south and center were more than other parts of Iran.
Materials and Methods
This study was carried out at Research Station of the Agricultural Research and Education Center of Khorasan Razavi, Iran during 2012-2013 crop years. In this experiment, 27 genotypes of Ajwain from different parts of the country were collected by the Natural Resources Genes Bank of Iran. Gene banks is a source for the right seed and look into several issues in order to improve levels of germplasm distribution and its utilization, duplication of plant identity, and access to database, for pre-breeding activities. In order to evaluate the morphological and phenological traits and to measure essential oil percentage, yield and yield components of Trachyspermum ammi for achieving superior germplasm. It was conducted in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Seed samples were first cultivated in the greenhouse and then transferred to the field and cultivated in drip irrigation conditions. Both fresh and dry weights were collected and measured for each sample. Seed size, yield components, biomass and grain yield as well as essential oil percentage were measured in all the cultured germplasm. All phenological stages including stem elongation time, flowering time and seeding time were counted and recorded during the growth period.
Results and Discussion
In this research, analysis of variance showed that there is a significant difference at 5% probability level between genotypes for a number of traits in different groups for 50% flowering time in 1.5 months, plant biomass 72-245 g.plant-1, seed yield 38-61.3 g.plant-1, and essential oil 3.08-11.22%. The highest positive direct effect (39%) on the yield of Ajwain essential oil was observed on biomass trait which has a positive and high correlation (53%) with the number of days to maturity. Different accessions of Ajwain have a potentially important source of genetic variation for the improvement of the cultivated species.  Genetic and environmental conditions play a significant and interrelated role on the emergence of traits. The selection of these traits is influenced by genotype and phenotype. High levels of genetic advance represent an incremental gene activity, while low levels represent the non-additive activity of the gene. The knowledge of genetic variability in a given crop species for characters under improvement is important in any plant breeding program. Understanding the nature and magnitude of variability among Ajwain genotypes for traits of economic importance is the goal of this study and it is vital to plan effective breeding programs.
Conclusion
As plant biomass has the highest positive direct effect on the yield of ajwain essential oil and a high correlation (53%) with the number of days to maturity, the selection of these traits should be considered with greater attention and emphasis on breeding programs. They were determined as suitable criteria and characters in plant breeding to produce the best of ajwain genotypes.

Keywords

• : Correlation
• Diversity
• Essential oils
• Pathway Analysis
• Physiological maturity

20.1001.1.20087713.1398.11.3.13.2

---

References

Afshar, A.K., Baghizadeh, A., and Mohammadi-Nejad, G. 2016. Evaluation of relationships between morphological traits and grain yield in cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.) under normal and drought conditions. Journal of Crop Breeding (18): 160-165. (In Persian with English Summary)

Azizi, E., Koocheki, A., Moghaddam, P.R., and Nassiri Mahallati, M. 2015. Interaction of nutrient resource and crop diversity on resource use efficiency in different cropping systems. Journal of Agroecology 7 (1):1-19. (In Persian with English Summary)

Chineh, I.R., Pirzadeh, A., Hosseini, B., and Madani, S.H. 2017. Effect of different irigation levels and harvest time on some agronomic characteristics and essential oil of Carum copticum L. Environmental Stresses in Crop Sciences (9): 329-337.

Dalkani, M., Darvishzadeh, R., and Hassani, A. 2011. Correlation and sequential path analysis in ajowan (Carum copticum L.). Journal of Medicinal Plants Research (5): 211-216.

Eblagh, N., Fateh, E., Farzane, M., and Osfuri, M. 2013. Effect of cattle manure application, phosphate solubilizing bacteria and different phosphrous levels on yield and essence components of Trachyspermum ammi l. Journal of Agricultural Sciences and Sustainable Production (23): 1-15.

Franks, S.J., Sim, S., and Weis, A.E.2007. Rapid evolution of flowering time by an annual plant in response to a climate fluctuation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (104): 1278-1282.

Ganapathi, T., Dharmatti, P., and Hegde, R.V. 2018. Effect of integrated nutrient modules on growth, yield and available plant nutrients in banana cv. Grand Naine. International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences (7): 1964-1973.

Ghorbanzadeh, M., and Mehrjerdi, M.Z. 2017. A study on correlation between morphological traits and path analysis of yield on some ajowan (Trachyspermum ammi L.). In: The First International and the Third National Conference of Medical Herbs, Conventional Medicine and Organic Agriculture (ed. Astani, S). Bonyad Hamayesh Hamadan.

Jan, S.A., Shinwari, Z.K., Zeb, A., Khalil, A.T., and Shah, S.H. 2015. Ethnobotany and research trends in Trachyspermum ammi L. (Ajowan); A popular folklore remedy. American-Eurasian Journal of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences (15): 68-73.

Letchamo, W., Xu, H.L., and Gosselin, A. 1995. Photosynthetic potential of Thymus vulgaris selections under two light regimes and three soil water levels. Scientia Horticulturae (62): 89-101.

Lubadde, G. 2014. Genetic analysis and imporvement of pearl millet for rust resistance and grain yield in uganda. university of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg.

Mirzahosseini, S.M., Noori, S.A.S., Amanzadeh, Y., and Javid, M.G. 2017. Evaluation of phenological characteristics and amount of essential oils in some native ecotypes of Ajowan (Trachyspermum ammi L.). Iranian Journal of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (33): 435-448. (In Persian with English Summary)

Monika, M., Dodiya, N., Baudh, B., Rajani, V., and Meena, B. 2017. Correlation and path analysis for seed yield its contributing traits and oil content in Ajwain (Trachyspermum ammi L.). Environment and Ecology (35): 1849-1853.

Neghab, M.G., and Mehrjerdi, M.Z. 2017. Investigation of correlation between morphological traits and pathway analysis of seed yield of Trachyspermum ammi L. In: The first international conference and the third National Conference on Medicinal Plants, Traditional Medicine and Organic Agriculture. Mofateh School Hamadan, p. 11.

Nezami, S., Nezami, A., and Rezazadeh, Z.B. 2013. Evaluation of frost tolerance of three Sprague ecotypes (Trachyspermum ammi Linn ) in controlled conditions. Iranian Journal of Field Crops Research (11): 121-130. (In Persian with English Summary)

Niazian, M., Sadat-Noori, S.A., and Abdipour, M. 2018. Modeling the seed yield of Ajowan (Trachyspermum ammi L.) using artificial neural network and multiple linear regression models. Industrial Crops and Products (117): 224-234.

Niazian, M., Sadat Noori, S.A., Tohidfar, M., and Mortazavian, S.M.M. 2017. Essential oil yield and agro-morphological traits in some iranian ecotypes of ajowan (Carum copticum L.). Journal of Essential Oil Bearing Plants (20): 1151-1156. (In Persian with English Summary)

Qureshi, A.A., and Eswar, K.K.2010. Phytochemical constituents and pharmacological activities of Trachyspermum ammi. Plant Archives (10): 955-959.

Rahimmalek, M., Heidari, E.F., Ehtemam, M.H., and Mohammadi, S. 2017. Essential oil variation in Iranian Ajowan (Trachyspermum ammi (L.) Sprague populations collected from different geographical regions in relation to climatic factors. Industrial Crops and Products (95): 591-598.

Ranjan, B., Manmohan, S., Singh, S.R., and Singh, R.B. 2011. Medicinal uses of Trachyspermum ammi: a review. The Pharma Research (5): 247-258.

Rezaei-Chianeh, E., and Nasab, A.D.M. 2014. Evaluation of the integrated application of bio-chemical fertilizers on quantitative and qualitative yield of Carum copticum L. in intercropping with Trigonella foenum-graecum L. Journal of Agroecology 6 (3): 582-594. (In Persian with English Summary)

Safaei, L., Zeinali, H., and Afiuni, D. 2011. Study of genetic variation of agronomic haracteristics in Foeniculum vulgare Mill. genotypes. Iranian Journal of Rangelands and Forests Plant Breeding and Genetic Research 19: 167-180. (In Persian with English Summary)

Saydi, Z., Fateh, E., and Aynbaneh, A. 2016. The effect of different sources of nitrogen and organic fertilizers on soil properties andessentioal oil properties of ajwain. Crop Production (9): 175-192.

Shabahang, J., Khorramdel, S., and Gheshm, R. 2016. Evaluation of symbiosis with mycorhizzal on yield, yield components and essential oil of fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) and ajowan (Carum copticum L.) under different nitrogen levels. Journal of Agroecology 5(3): 289-298. (In Persian with English Summary)

Shahhoseini, R., Saeidi, K., Babaahmadi, H., and Ebadi, M. T. 2018. Effect of fertilizers and superabsorbent hydrogel on the yield, essential oil content and composition of lemon verbena (Lippia citriodora Kunth.) cultivated in Iran. Journal of Essential Oil Bearing Plants (21): 230-236. (In Persian with English Summary)

Zarezadeh, A., Mirvakili, S., and Arabzadeh, M. 2007. Survey on phenology and aeclimitization of medicinal plants species in Yazd province collection. Iranian Journal of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (23): 204-217. (In Persian with English Summary)