Morphology of secretory structures and essential oil composition in Mentha cervina L. from Portugal

Abstract

Mentha cervina L. is an aromatic plant that is traditionally used in the Alentejo region of Portugal to flavour food dishes and for the medicinal properties of the essential oil produced in its glandular trichomes. The morphology and distribution of the secretory structures of 20 populations was studied by light and scanning electron microscopy and revealed a great similarity in the type and distribution of glandular and non-glandular trichomes. In addition, two populations were surveyed at different stages of their life cycles. This showed that both maximum trichome density and maximum filling capacity of the glandular trichomes are attained early on. The GC and GC-MS chemical analyses showed that pulegone (62-80%), isomenthone (3-18%) and limonene (3-7%) are the main components of M. cervina essential oils. Cluster analysis of the identified essential oil components revealed a major chemical consistency between the 20 populations evaluated.

Trichomes micromorphology and essential oil variation at different developmental stages of cultivated and wild growing Mentha pulegium L. populations from Portugal

“…2D). This report on the presence of peltate trichomes between the two anther lobes is noteworthy but was also reported for other Lamiaceae species (Ascensão et al, 1995;Rodrigues et al, 2008).…”

“…2B). The glandular trichomes belong to two morphologically different types, peltate and capitate, which are considered as the common glandular trichome arrangement in the Lamiaceae family (Werker et al, 1993) and were as well described in Mentha spicata, M. spicata × suaveolens (Martins, 2002), M. cervina (Rodrigues et al, 2008) and other Lamiaceae species (Ascensão et al, 1999;Corsi and Bottega, 1999;Rodrigues et al, 2006). In M. pulegium peltate trichomes are seen all over both leaf surfaces, dominant on the abaxial surface, on the stem, on the inner and outer surfaces of sepals, and on the outer face apex of petals.…”

The composition and antibacterial activity of essential oils in three Ocimum species growing in Romania

“…Capitate glandular hairs of the Lamiaceae family produce a particular mixture of carbohydrates, lipids and proteins and less monoterpenic compounds [11]. The larger quantity of monoterpenes is produced and stored in peltate glandular hairs [20].…”

Study of Rosemary Peltate Glandular Trichomes Using Combined Morphological and Chemical Approach

“…sectioning are frequently used for histological observation of glandular trichomes (Rodrigues et al, 2008). However, it is difficult to fully elucidate the tissue structure of plant organs using sectioned plant materials.…”