Latitude and Altitude Influence Secondary Metabolite Production in Peripheral Alpine Populations of the Mediterranean Species Lavandula angustifolia Mill.

Abstract

Lavandula angustifolia Mill. has a great economic importance in perfumery, cosmetics, food manufacturing, aromatherapy, and pharmaceutical industry. This species finds its phytosociological optimum in the sub-Mediterranean region. Latitudinal and altitudinal gradients are expected to affect species diversification in peripheral alpine populations. In this study, phenotypic traits including morphometric parameters, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and essential oils (EOs) were analyzed in lavender peripheral populations selected in order to explore different ecological conditions. Plants were cultivated under uniform conditions to observe variations due to the genetic adaptation to native environments and to exclude the short-term response to environmental factors. Results showed qualitatively and quantitatively intra-specific variations in secondary metabolites, mainly along the latitudinal gradient, while minor effect was attributable to the altitude. This latter affected more the morphometric parameters. As the latitude augmented, VOCs showed lower content of monoterpene hydrocarbon (mh) and higher content of oxygenated monoterpenes (om); whereas EOs showed higher content of mh and non-terpene derivatives (nt) and lower content of sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (sh). Lavender aroma and EO composition varied in every population, for a total of 88 and 104 compounds identified, respectively. Eleven and 13 compounds were responsible for 95% of the dissimilarity, with linalool, linalyl acetate and 1,8-cineole as major contributors. As the latitude augmented, linalool decreased and 1,8-cineole increased while linalyl acetate content was unaffected. These results are discussed with regards to the potential adoption of the lavender peripheral alpine populations for the improvement of quality and productivity of lavender cultivations, especially in mountainous areas.

Variation of Chemical Constituents and Antiradical Capacity of Nine Ferulago angulata Populations from Iran

“…As shown in Figure 1 , the plant harvested from ‘Mongar’ located at 3000 m (M‐3000) and south‐slope aspect 2500 m (M.S‐2500) with 0.55±0.1 % and 1.34±0.06 % (w/w) (the richest sample), respectively, showed an evidence of the influence of altitude on EO contents. The EO yield of ‘MA.N‐2350’ and ‘MA.N‐2600’ with 0.95±0.1 % and 0.18±0.05 %, respectively, represented the impact of growth condition variations on EO contents, which are consistent with former reports ( Figure ).…”

“…As shown in Figure 1, the plant harvested from 'Mongar' located at 3000 m (M-3000) and south-slope aspect 2500 m (M.S-2500) with 0.55 � 0.1 % and 1.34 � 0.06 % (w/w) (the richest sample), respectively, showed an evidence of the influence of altitude on EO contents. The EO yield of 'MA.N-2350' and 'MA.N-2600' with 0.95 � 0.1 % and 0.18 � 0.05 %, respectively, represented the impact of growth condition variations on EO contents, which are consistent with former reports [28] (Figure 1). In accordance with our findings, monoterpene hydrocarbons (34.71 -76.99 %), among them α-pinene (20.84 -49.06 %) was characterized as the major EO terpenoid which corroborates the previous reports, [7,[12][13][14] except 'KS.N-1800' which was notably richer in (E)-β-ocimene (23.65 %) ( Table 2).…”

Cultivation Substrate Composition Influences Morphology, Volatilome and Essential Oil of Lavandula Angustifolia Mill.

“…Three populations of Lavandula angustifolia of North West Italian Alps and referred to as Susa Valley (Sus), Stura Valley (Stu) and Tanaro Valley (Tan) according to their geographical origin, were selected based on their different phytochemical profile [36]. Cutting propagation occurred in September 2014 under plastic tunnels in the nursery Fratelli Gramaglia (Collegno, Italy; 45 • 05 22.4 N, 7 • 34 26.4 E, 302 m.a.s.l.).…”

“…Spontaneous emission profiles and essential oil compositions of the lavender plants were analyzed using methods described in a previous study [36]. Emitted volatiles were sampled from the headspace of each plant with a Supelco (Bellefonte, PA, USA) solid phase microextraction (SPME) device (Supelcor, Bellafonte, PA, USA) coated with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS, 100 µm coating thickness, St. Louis, MO, USA).…”

“…The scientific research to improve the quality of cultivated medicinal and aromatic plants commonly focuses on fertilization [25][26][27][28][29][30] or irrigation regimes [31][32][33][34]. Nonetheless, previous experimental studies revealed that many other factors interfere with the volatile and essential oil composition: genotype [35], latitude [36], developmental conditions [37,38], harvesting time [39], development stage and environmental conditions [38,40], such as temperature [41]. The effects of different mixtures used as substrates for potting plants have been reported in few studies on lavender [42] and other Lamiaceae plants, such as Thymus vulgaris L. [43], Ocimum basilicum L. [39] and Rosmarinus officinalis L. [44].…”