Journal of Medicinal Plants Biotechnology

Abstract The Ferula gummosa plant is a perennial and valuable species from the Apiaceae family, native to Iran. The significance of this plant lies in its resin, known as galbanum. Dormancy of the seeds is one of the main challenges in its growth, taking at least 9 months under natural conditions. The aim of this experiment was to shorten the dormancy period of this plant using artificial seed technology. In this experiment, somatic embryos of F .gummosa at the heart-shaped and torpedo stages were obtained from leaf explants in an MS1/2 medium containing 1 mg/L of BAP hormone and 1 mg/L of NAA hormone. Additionally, the embryonic part of the seed was isolated and encapsulated using a 2% sodium alginate solution, resulting in the production of artificial seeds. The results showed that the encapsulated somatic embryos at the torpedo stage showed the greatest seedling length after 15 and 30 days, and the germination of these seeds was faster compared to other seeds. The seeds obtained from the embryonic part also showed acceptable results. The findings of this experiment indicate that considering the time required for producing artificial seeds of F. gummosa, this method is quicker and more suitable for the propagation of this plant.

Abstract Artichoke medicinal plant (Cynara scolymus L.) is a herbaceous, diploid and perennial plant. This plant is native to the Mediterranean region and belongs to the Asteracea family. It is rich

in polyphenols, flavonoids, anthocyanins, phenolic compounds, inulin, coumarins, terpenes, dietary fibre, enzymes, polysaccharides, minerals and vitamins Several studies have shown that artichokes have properties such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory,. Due to the antioxidant and hepatoprotective effects of this plant, which contains very little fat and high levels of minerals, vitamin C, fiber, inulin, polyphenols, hydroxycinnamates and flavones. But its most effective substance can be related to polyphenols, which are mainly composed of mono and dicaffeoylquinic acids and flavonoids. The first research related to tissue culture in this plant dates back to 1973. The first reports on the secondary metabolites of this plant were on synaropecarin, which was recorded and reported for the first time in 1960 by Suchy and his colleagues.Optimization of different physical conditions such as temperature, aeration, light stirring and chemical factors such as addition of growth regulators and precursors to culture media for in vitro production of these active compounds are described. Furthermore, cultures of transformed hairy roots, induced by Agrobacterium rhizogenes infection, have been discussed as an important technique to maximize the production of secondary metabolites in vitro. In this research, a general overview of the history and the time trend of biotechnology research has been made, and the problems, results, and research findings of the world's researchers have been collected.

Abstract Artichoke (Cynara scolymus L.), is a perennial herbaceous plant belonging to the Asteraceae family, which has both medicinal and nutritional properties. It seems that harvesting time has an important effect on the quantity and quality of plant products especially on secondary metabolites. In order to analysis of plant or field age on some physiological, biochemical and secondary metabolites characteristics of artichoke, a research project was carried out in a completely randomized design at the research field of medicinal plants at the University of Zanjan. One-year old and two-year old artichoke farms were selected as experimental treatments, and then three plots were randomly selected from each farm in which the plant specimens were taken and the desired traits were measured. According to the results: some traits such as: leaf dry weight, leaf length and width, amount of chlorophylls and carotenoids, root soluble proteins and carbohydrates increased at second year old plants. However; shoot soluble proteins and carbohydrate and also the total number of extracted secondary metabolites were decreased by increasing of plant age. D-methyl Buta Dienil (26.18 %), Pentacosadiynoic acid (21.24%), Inositol (10.97%) and Tetramethyl-octahydronaphthalen (9.61%) were the major compounds of one-year old artichoke plants and scyllo inositol (59.01%), methyl-hexadecatetra enoate (20.46%), isopropenyl-methanol (5.2%) and glucopyranose (4.71%) were the major components two-year old artichoke plant leaf extract.  It can be concluded that plant age has noticeable effects on growth and biochemical and specially on secondary metabolites properties of artichoke.

Abstract Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) is one of the oldest medicinal and spice plants in the world. In order to investigate the effects of plant age on secondary metabolites and some physiological factors of saffron, a research project was conducted in a completely randomized design with three replications at the research field of medicinal plants of the University of Zanjan. Three saffron farms with different biological ages of one, two and five years old were selected as experimental treatments, and then three plots were randomly selected from each farm and the desired traits were measured. Results showed that, increasing of the age of saffron plants in this experiment increased fresh weight of plant and dry weight of stigma. 5-yraes old plants showed the highest amounts of these traits. Whereas, the contents of soluble proteins and sugars and photosynthetic pigments were higher at first year and decreased by increasing of plant age. Number of secondary metabolites decreased when the age of plants increased as in one–year old saffron plants 26 metabolites and in 5-year old plants only 15 metabolites were detected. Loliolid (18%) and thymol (17%) in 1-year old plants and thymol (19%) and camphor (14%) in 5-year old plants showed the highest level among all detected secondary compounds. Generally according to these results, plant age has an important effect on the number and kinds of secondary metabolites in saffron which should be considered at the time of saffron harvesting.

Abstract Ferula.gummosa is one of the important medicinal plants in Iran and world. Today this plant is endangered in nature. One of the reasons for the threat is the long dormancy of galbanum seeds and its very low germination power, along with its uncontrolled harvesting. In this research, which was conducted in a completely randomized design with 3 replications and 3 treatments at the Biotechnology Research Institute of Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, galbanum plant embryos from Fars province were seprated from seeds and cultured to find the best concentration for growth in MS media with concentrations of 1/2-1/4 and complete MS media. After 30 days, traits such as seedling length, seedling weight, and percentage of germination in each medium were measured and compared. The results showed that the growth rate of this plant in MS1/4 media was higher than the two other concentrations . According to available published sources, the results of this study are reported for the first time on the effect of culture medium concentration on germination and seedling growth indices of Ferula.gummosa plant

Abstract

Abstract The pharmaceuticals plant (Myrtus communis L.)  is one of the most important medicinal plant species that consist of around 50 species of the Mediterranean basin. This plant is a perennial flowering shrubs or a small tree. The propagation of this plant is associated with certain difficulties due to its rigid crust. The low percentage of cuttings is one of the major limitations of cuttings approach propagation. The callogenesis is one of the important processes in molecular farming. For start of research the seeds were obtained from Zanjan University's Research Institute of Modern Biological Techniques. In this study, the effect of different concentrations of growth regulator 2 and 4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) at four levels on three types of leaf explants, shoots and roots. A factorial experiment based on a completely randomized design with three replications was studied on the Murashige - Skoog medium (MS). The onset of callus formation was observed after about one month. The color of calluses was often white to brown and red. The results showed that callus formation was higher in leaf explants by 90% compared to the other explants and the lowest percentage of callus belonged to root explants. Also, the relative amount of callus formation at leaf concentration of 1 mg / L was higher than other treatments but no significant differences were observed at hormonal levels of 1 and 2 mg / L 2,4-D. Due to the limited scientific reports on the tissue culture of this plant worldwide, and based on the available scientific reports available, the results of this study have been investigated on Iranian varieties as a first report.