Articles
ECHINACEA PALLIDA (NUTT.) NUTT. – YIELD AND ECHINACOSIDE CONTENT
Since 1993 cultivation trials with E. pallida (Nutt.) Nutt. have been and are still being made near Berlin.
Testing characters are yield of roots, content of echinacoside, extract, essential oil.
The variability of the root yield of individual plants is very high (s% = 44). With plot sizes of 15 m2 with 100 to 200 plants a testing accuracy of s% = 10 to 20 is achieved.
With a field planted in spring average yields of individual plants of 50 to 60 grams are achieved in autumn of the first trial year.
In the second year the root mass is triplicating.
A cultivation of E. pallida in furrows makes the root harvest easier and result in significantly higher yields.
Higher planting densities decrease the individual plant yield but result in higher total yields.
Cutting the plant prevents flowering but has a favourable effect on the root yield.
The different measures of cultivation do not influence the echinacoside and extract content.