The bioherbicidal potential of Thymbra capitata (L.) Cav. essential oil (EO) and its main compound carvacrol was investigated. In in vitro assays, the EO blocked the germination and seedling growth of Erigeron canadensis L., Sonchus oleraceus (L.) L., and Chenopodium album L. at 0.125 µL/mL, of Setaria verticillata (L.) P.Beauv., Avena fatua L., and Solanum nigrum L. at 0.5 µL/mL, of Amaranthus retroflexus L. at 1 µL/mL and of Portulaca oleracea L., and Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) P.Beauv. at 2 µL/mL. Under greenhouse conditions, T. capitata EO was tested towards the emergent weeds from a soil seedbank in pre and post emergence, showing strong herbicidal potential in both assays at 4 µL/mL. In addition, T. capitata EO, applied by spraying, was tested against P. oleracea, A. fatua and E. crus-galli. The species showed different sensibility to the EO, being E. crus-galli the most resistant. Experiments were performed against A. fatua testing T. capitata EO and carvacrol applied by spraying or by irrigation. It was verified that the EO was more active at the same doses in monocotyledons applied by irrigation and in dicotyledons applied by spraying. Carvacrol effects on Arabidopsis root morphology were also studied.

The chemical composition of essential oils from Satureja cuneifolia growing in east Spain was analyzed by GC, GC/MS. Forty-five compounds accounting for 99.1% of the total oil were identified. Camphor (47.6%), followed by camphene (13.6%) were the main compounds. Their herbicidal and antifungal activity was tested in vitro against three weeds (Amaranthus hybridus, Portulaca oleracea and Conyza canadensis) and eleven common pathogenic or saprophytic fungi (Phytophthora citrophthora, P. palmivora, Pythium litorale, Verticillium dahlia, Rhizoctonia solani, Penicillium hirsutum, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, Phaeoacremonium aleophilum, Phaemoniella chlamydospora, Cylindrocarpon liriodendri and C. macrodidymum). The essential oil was very active against A. hybridus and C. canadensis significantly inhibiting their germination and seedling growth. Minor activity was shown against P. oleracea, depending on the concentration applied. P. palmivora, P. citrophthora and Pa. chlamydospora were the most sensitive fungi to the treatment with the essential oil, whereas R. solani showed no inhibition. Results showed that S. cuneifolia essential oil could be used for biocontrol of weeds and fungal plant diseases.

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Botany, the science of plants, is linked with medicinal and aromatic plants in many different ways. The ca. 40,000 plant species used for ethnomedicinal purposes, since the beginning of recorded history, have traditionally been collected and gathered from the wild. Botanical sciences (like plant systematics, morphology and physiology) have been assisting the study and utilization of MAPs in a multiple of ways.The study and utilization of MAPs should begin with the correct identification of plants. Formerly this was done mainly on the basis of morphological characters. With the progress of scientific -technical development, the chemical traits were also involved. Recent research trends have opened up new opportunities for revealing the DNA and biosynthetic causes of chemo-differentiation, and ultimately the information supplied by the plant metabolome. As thus, botany assisted by other scientific achievements, seems to open up promising perspectives for the breeding of new, highly powerful chemo-cultivars of medicinal and aromatic taxa.In the case of medicinal and aromatic plants the inheritance patterns, as well as the interrelatedness of economically important traits is complex. Their variability as complemented by the ecological plasticity of plants make it difficult to arrive at reliable research conclusions, to sort out the inheritable characteristics making MAP-breeding still quite a challenge.The efficiency of cultivation of these species is fundamentally dependent on the productivity of the plant biomass within which the active principles are synthesized and frequently accumulated. Their quantities and composition are important preconditions for utilization, therefore also intensively investigated botanical domains.Floristics or Vegetation Science deals with plants in geographic dimensions. The knowledge and economic mapping of MAP resources is an important contribution to the sustainable management and utilization of these species. In the wake of the Chiang Mai Declaration (1988), appropriate policies and legal frameworks, standards, etc. (GAP, GCP, GMP, Fair Trade, etc.) have been elaborated to safeguard the already frequently endangered natural resources of MAPs and to assist their the protection. These and also other guidelines (standards) are meant to contribute to the survival and sustainable utilization of medicinal and aromatic plant resources.