Perilla frutescens var. frutescens in northern Laos

Abstract

Twenty-eight samples of mericarps of Perilla frutescens var. frutescens were collected through fieldwork performed in Phongsali and Xieng Khouang provinces in northern Laos. No perilla samples were collected from Savannakhet province in the south although more than 20 sites were investigated. Perilla plants are mostly grown mixed with dry-paddy rice by slash-and-burn cultivation in Laos. The most popular local name for perilla mericarps in the area was "Ma Nga Chan". Weight of 1,000 grains and hardness of the mericarps were measured, and all mericarps were found to be large (weight of 1,000 grains around 2 g) and soft (limit load weight under 300 g), which were preferred for culinary use in Laos. The composition of the essential oils obtained from the herbaceous plants raised from the mericarps was divided into five types, perillaketone, elemicine plus myristicine, shisofuran, piperitenon, and myristicine, and GC-MS analysis of these Laotian perilla samples showed that they were similar to those of corresponding types of known Japanese perilla strains. One of the shisofuran-type perilla contained large amounts of putative alpha-naginatene, which is likely to be an intermediate of the biosynthesis of naginataketone. The farmers' indifference to the oil type of the leaf seems to leave Laotian perilla as a good genetic resource for studies of the biosynthesis of oil compounds.

Microcapsules biologically prepared using Perilla frutescens (L.) Britt. essential oil and their use for extension of fruit shelf life

“…It is noteworthy that our results differ significantly from what has been reported in previous studies. Perillaldehyde, perilla ketone and their isomers have been reported to appear widely in essential oils from P. frutescens , but were not found in our sample. Moreover, limonene, elemicin, pinene and aurolene have also been found as micro‐components in perilla essential oils .…”

Transcriptional Activation of Putative Calmodulin Genes Am-cam-1 and Am-cam-2 from Aquilaria microcarpa, in Response to External Stimuli

“…6,7) Although agarwood produces a variety of sesquiterpene compounds used as the scent, artificial transformation of agarwood-producing plants to agarwood has proved quite difficult. Okudera and Ito have recently reported 8) that biosynthesis of a series of sesquiterpenoids, such as a-guaiene, a-humulene and d-guaiene, is induced in cell cultures of A. crassuna and A. sinensis by treatment with MJ.…”

Germination rates of perilla (Perilla frutescens (L.) Britton) mericarps stored at 4°C for 1–20 years

“…Mericarps of strain No. 32 harvested in 2002 were grown in a weather-controlled chamber and their size was larger than that in other years; weight of 1000 grains, which is an indicator of seed size [7,10], was 1.354 g for 2002, and 0.616 g for 2004. Mericarps of perilla are abscised from the calyces when they are matured.…”