CROSSING EXPERIMENTS BETWEEN SOME CHEMOTYPES OFMENTHA LONGIFOLIAANDMENTHA SUAVEOLENS

Abstract

T h e results of crossing experiments between a dihydrocarvone type of M e n t h a s u a v e o l e~z s (M e n t h a s u a v e o l e n s 12) and piperitone oxide types of resp. M e n t h a l o n g i f o l i a (M. l o n g i f o l i a 3) and M e n t h a szcaveolens (M. s u a v e O 1 e n s 6) and of two backcrossing experiments are given. Morphol~gicall~ the hybrids stood midway between the parent plants. Chemical analysis showed that in al1 cases the formation of dihydrocarvone was dominant over the formation of piperitone oxide and that M. 1 O n g i f 01 i a 3 and M. s u a v e o 1 e n s 6 are recessive for the same gene. Starting from a compound like diosphenolene, with an oxygen function both ut C-2 and ut C-3, and which is present when the gene c is homozygously present, substitution of the gene c by the dominant C involves reduction of the oxygen ut C-3 leading t o C-2 oxvgen compounds like carvone. In ccaa types substitution of the gene a by the dominant gene A will involve the reduction of the oxygen ut C-2 leading to C-3 oxygen compounds like piperitenone. The gene C is supposed to he epistatic over A. This explanation seems more likely than the one previously given by MURRAY (1960b) ut which the dominant gene C is held responsible for the oxydation o f a monoterpene hydrocarbon (limonene) ut C-2 leading t o carvone etc. and its recessive allele is responsible for the oxydatio~z ut C-3 leading to piperitenone etc. whereas the dominant gene A involves the reduction of the double bond 1,2 of piperitenone (-t pulegone) and piperitone (+ menthone). A scheme is discussed in which a dominant gene P is held responsible for the saturation of the double bond 4,8 (MURRAY et al., 1971) and in which a hypothetical, dominant gene is responsible for the saturation o f the double bond 1,2 of piperitenone and of the double bond 1,6 of carvone. In a previous publication (H E N D R I K S and V A N OS, 1972) the chernical analysis of a piperitone oxide type of Mentha longifolia (L.

CNS activity of Mentha rotundifolia and Mentha longifolia essential oil in mice and rats

“…Menthol and menthone were found in very low amounts, which may be explained by the existence of dominant genes for reduction, conditioning the transformation of piperitone in piperitol and thus making the presence of pulegone, menthone and other derivatives less likely. The identification of diosphenol as the major component of M. longifolia essential oil is in agreement with the hypothesis of Hendriks et al (1976), which designates this compound as the precursor of a number of mint essential oil components. Rotundifolone may be associated with a ccaapp genotype, according to these authors.…”

Comparison of chemical composition and antimicrobial activities ofMentha longifolia L. ssp.longifolia essential oil from two Tunisian localities (Gabes and Sidi Bouzid)

“…Indeed, Peréz Raya and colleagues (1990) studied the chemical composition of Mentha longifolia and reported that diosphenol (47.7%) and rotundifolone (33.2%) were the main components. In fact, diosphenol is the precursor of a large number of mint essential oil components (Hendriks et al, 1976). The differences in the chemical composition of the species belonging to Mentha genus growing around the world could be related to the environmental factors influencing their biosynthesis (Franz et al, 1984;Voirin et al, 1990).…”

Composition of the Essential Oil of Mentha microphylla from the Gennargentu Mountains (Sardinia, Italy)

“…The different qualitative and quantitative chemical compositions of this essential oil with respect to previous investigations ( , ) could be related first and foremost to the different environmental conditions. Additionally, the differences could be attributable to the different degree of hybridization that the populations of M. microphylla could have faced between various chemotypes of M. longifolia and M. suaveolens ( − ). In particular, piperitone oxide, one of the main constituents of the oil of M. microphylla from Egypt (), was not identified in our analyses.…”