Agronomical and phytochemical aspects of fafia

A espécie medicinal fáfia (Hebanthe eriantha), é um recurso extrativista da região do Vale do Paraíba, cuja variabilidade genética encontra-se ameaçada. Neste estudo realizou-se a caracterização agronômica e análise de princípio ativo de cinco acessos. Este estudo é uma parceria entre o Laboratório de Plantas Medicinais da UNESP-Botucatu, o Pólo Vale do Paraíba em Pindamonhangaba da Agência Paulista de Tecnologia dos Agronegócios (APTA) e a Divisão de Agrotecnologia do Centro Pluridisciplinar de Pesquisas Químicas Biológicas e Agrícolas (CPQBA) da UNICAMP. Foi instalado um ensaio experimental a campo em blocos casualizados com cinco acessos e sete repetições. Foram avaliadas a massa fresca e seca da parte aérea, a massa fresca e seca da raiz, o comprimento da maior haste, a área foliar, o índice de espuma e o teor de ácido fáfico das amostras. O acesso I1800 apresentou uma massa seca de raiz, massa seca da parte aérea e área foliar superior aos demais acessos (176,16 g/planta, 7,301 kg/planta, 155,04 cm² ). O teor de ácido fáfico não diferiu entre os acessos (0,640-0,366 %/mm) Existe uma correlação positiva entre área foliar e massa seca da parte aérea e entre área foliar e massa seca de raízes entre os cinco acessos.The medicinal species fafia (Hebanthe eriantha), is a product of extractivism in the region of the Paraiba Valley, São Paulo state, Brazil, with endangered genetic variability. This study did an agronomical characterization and an analysis of active compounds of five accessions. This research is a partnership of UNESP-Botucatu Medicinal Plants Laboratory, Paraiba Valley Center (APTA) and CPQBA-UNICAMP Agrotechnological Division. A field experiment using completely random blocks with five accessions and seven replications was used. The stem and leaf wet/dry weights, root wet/dry weight, length of the longest stem, foliar area, foam index and pfaffic acid content samples were evaluated. Accession I1800 had root dry weight, stem and leaf dry weight, and foliar area greater than other accessions (176.16 g/plant, 7.301 kg/plant, 155.04 cm² ). Pfaffic acid content was similar to other accessions (0.640-0.366 %mm-1) Among all five accessions, there is a positive correlation among the foliar area and stem and leaf dry weight and between the foliar area and root dry weight.Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)UNESP FCA Depto. Produção VegetalIAC-Campinas Centro de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento de Recursos Genéticos VegetaisSAA APTAUNICAMP CPQBAUNESP FCA Depto. Produção Vegeta

In vitro propagation of Brazilian ginseng [Pfaffia glomerata (Spreng.) Pedersen] as affected by carbon sources

This study aimed to establish a protocol for in vitro propagation of two accessions (Ac) of Pfaffia glomerata (Ac 4 and Ac 13) and to evaluate the effect of different carbon sources on the production of 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) in leaves and roots. For the assessment of axillary shoot proliferation in vitro, nodal segments were inoculated onto Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 2.22 μM 6-benzyladenine and 2.68 μM α-naphthaleneacetic acid and carbon sources (glucose or sucrose) at varying concentrations (0.1, 0.2, or 0.3 M). To assess the in vitro production of 20E, nodal segments were inoculated into Magenta® containers containing MS medium with different carbon sources (glucose, sucrose, or glucose + sucrose at 0.1 or 0.2 M) and placed in plastic bags with bacterial filters. Both experiments were composed of five repetitions for each treatment and analyzed after 30 d of culture. Multiple shoot formations were genotype-dependent when segments were cultivated on a medium supplemented with glucose or sucrose at 0.1 M, yielding 35 and 43 shoots per explant for Ac 4 and 4.4 and 2.8 shoots per explant for Ac 13, respectively. For the 20E content, significant effects were also observed among accessions and carbon sources. Ac 13 had the highest average 20E levels for both roots and leaves. Under the experimental conditions, Ac 4 had more favorable characteristics for large-scale multiplication than Ac 13, and glucose at 0.2 M was the best carbon source for the cultivation of Pfaffia, both for producing multiple shoots and for in vitro 20E production. This is the first report using a combination of auxin and cytokinin to enable effective Pfaffia in vitro axillary shoot proliferation from nodal explants