1,721,346 research outputs found
Cultivation trials of some aromatic and medicinal plants in a semi-arid mediterranean environment
No full textAromatic and medicinal plants are widespread throughout the Mediterranean region, being dominant elements of the natural flora. Since the ancient time they have been utilised by local inhabitants for production of domestic preparations, beverages, confectionery and foods. Nowadays, their cultivation is increasing continuously due to the high demand for raw materials, especially products made with the help of "biological" techniques. In this work the results of cultivation trials performed in Sparacia (Cammarata - AG - Sicily) are summarised. In the experiments some aromatic and medicinal plants of major interest were tested under the representative semi-arid Mediterranean conditions in 1998, 1999 and 2000. Clary sage (Salvia sclarea L.), fennel (Foeniculum vulgare L.), dill (Anethum graveolens L.), marigold (Calendula officinalis L.) and milk thistle (Silybum marianum Gaertn.) were grown in experimental plots in order to evaluate their suitability to the field conditions. Based on the results the majority of the crops, grown in the trials grew well under semi-arid Mediterranean conditions and gave a satisfactory yield. The cultivation of these species provides an alternative for the farmers to increase their income, even in the areas unsuitable for conventional crops
Cultivation trials of coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) in a semi-arid mediterranean environment
No full textCoriander (Coriandrum sativum L. - family Apiaceae) fruits, commonly called "seeds," are used all over the world for flavouring many foods items. Unfortunately, most information about cropping techniques of coriander come from markedly different environments from the Mediterranean ones; it is worth, therefore, examining some of the most important aspects of this topic. In order to evaluate the possibility to grow coriander under semi-arid Mediterranean environments a field trial was performed in 1998/99 and 1999/2000. In both years, the experimental field was located in Sparacia (Cammarata- AG -Sicily). Coriander was sown, in rows 50 cm apart on December 4th, 1998 and December 7th, 1999. The harvest of seeds was performed in both years from the 10th to 20th of June, after reaching a thermic sum of 1586 and 1714 GDD (Growth Degree Days) respectively. Despite the very low rainfall (229 and 261 mm from sowing time to harvest in both years) the fruit yields were rather satisfactory, reaching 581.3 and 970.6 kg ha-1 (dry mass). In the case of the volatile oils the most important compounds detected in the fruits were linalool (24.8 to 31.7 %), α-pinene (27.5 to 26.1 %) and γ-terpinene (21.9 to 23.0 %)
Bio-agronomical evaluation of californian poppy (Eschscholtzia californica Cham.) in a semi-arid mediterranean environment
No full textCalifornian poppy (Eschscholtzia californica Cham.) is an annual or perennial herb belonging to the Papaveraceae family. The aerial parts of the plant are claimed to be endowed with gentle and non addictive hypnotic and tranquillising effects, and for this reason they are traditionally used as a sedative hypnotic or analgesic both for adults and children. In order to evaluate the suitability of the species to field cultivation in the Mediterranean semi-arid areas, a two year long experiment was performed in Sicily in 1999 and 2000. The seed of the plant was sown in both years on the first days of December in rows 50 cm apart. During the cultivation the most important morphological and production characteristics were evaluated. It was proven that effective cultivation of the species is possible under the conditions of the experimental area. After the first year a considerable number of plants self-seeded and vigorous growth of these plants was observed on the same plots. Data proved significant effect of the year on the behaviour of the plants, especially on plant height and number of branches. Differences between sown and self-seeded plants were registered evaluating their height, fruit and seeds mass
Effect of the choice of different row arrangements on the bio-agronomical behaviour of Origanum heracleoticum
No full textOriganum heracleoticum L. (oregano) is one of the most important aromatic crops growing spontaneously in the Mediterranean area. Besides being used since ancient times in many traditional recipes, oregano becomes increasingly appreciated even today. One of the reasons is the essential oil, containing a lot of principles possessing antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. Based on the demand a well established cultivation may economically supply the drug. This work summarises the results of a cultivation trial performed in Sparacia in a typical semi-arid Mediterranean environment. The maximum dry yields were obtained in the twin-row arrangement (1 m between and 0.5 m inside) in the second and third years of cultivation. Spacing effected the number of branches, age of the plants influenced almost all of the production characteristics. We found a significant interaction between the examined factors in case of the shoot mass, stem mass and number of flowers
De la Torre, R. y Gutiérrez, C. (2017) Mismos pasos y nuevos caminos. Transnacionalización de la danza conchero azteca
No full textReseña del libro: De la Torre, R. y Gutiérrez, C. (2017) Mismos pasos y nuevos caminos. Transnacionalización de la danza conchero azteca. México: El Colegio de Jalisco, CIESAS. ISBN COLJAL: 978-607-8350-81-0. ISBN CIESAS: 978-607-486-444-1
Characterization of an Italian biotype of clary sage (Salvia sclarea L.) grown in a semi-arid Mediterranean environment
No full textAn Italian spontaneous biotype of clary sage (Salvia sclarea L.) was evaluated for its suitability to be cultivated in a semi-arid area and for the influence of these growth conditions on the essential oil composition. Seeds gathered from a spontaneous biotype were sown directly in the field, using a seeding density calculated to achieve a plant population of 7 plants/m2. Essential oils from the inflorescences and leaves of plants harvested at full flowering and early seed ripeness stages were obtained by steam distillation and characterized by GC and GC-MS. The plants showed a good tolerance to the semi-arid growth conditions, yielding more than 700 flowers/plant and about 21 g seeds/plant. Relevant qualitative and quantitative differences were detected between the essential oils from the inflorescences and leaves, the former being characterized by a high content of linalool (26-29%) and linalyl acetate (35-53%) and the latter only by sesquiterpenes, with germacrene D as the main compound (68-69%). Inflorescences at full flowering stage were richer in linalool, α-terpineol and germacrene D, showing a lower content in linalyl acetate in comparison with those collected at early seed ripeness. The development stage did not influence the oil composition of leaves
Modifications over years of volatile compounds and agronomic features in a Sicilian Clary sage biotype.
No full textClary sage is a biennial native to Mediterranean area, spontaneous and often ubiquitous in many environments of inner Sicily. The large white-pinkish flowers are used, besides for ornamental purposes, for extracting a strongly-scented essential oil largely used by perfume industries. This work has been carried out with the aim to observe over several years the behaviour of a Sicilian Clary sage biotype, grown on experimental plots laid out in Sparacia (Cammarata - AG - Sicily). For this purpose seeds of Clary sage collected from a wild population growing in Pietraperzia (EN) were sown in experimental plots each year for seven consecutive years (from 1998 to 2005). Since Clary sage is a biennial, the observations on plants have been carried after each flowering time, i.e. after each second year from sowing. In this work the results of biometrical and chemical data collected on plants are shown. The plant has shown a strong aptitude to reflowering after each collection time, and the oil extracted from the flowers showed excellent quality characters. The oil extracted from the leaves had a composition quite different from that obtained from the flowers, being characterized by noticeable amounts of Germacrene-D. The qualitative characters of oil obtained from both flowers and leaves did not show a significant variability from year to year, and the crop seemed to react very well to the repeated cultivation for many consecutive years on the same site. This strong suitability, and the low labor cost required from its cultivation let foresee excellent perspectives for the introduction of the Clary sage in the Mediterranean cropping systems
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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