SELECTION OF MATERIAL FOR CULTIVATION IN ALOYSIA POLYSTACHYA (GRIS.) MOLD.

Aloysia polystachya (Gris.) Mold., local name “té de burro” (Spanish), is an aromatic native plant which is being wiped out from wild environments, whose culture has been started.
In order to select material for growing, seeds were collected from two wild populations, one of them near Cañada Luque in the north of Córdoba province (labeled B) and the other near Patquía, La Rioja province (labeled N). Specimens of both populations were identified in the Botanical Museum of Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales of Universidad Nacional de Córdoba.
Starting from those seeds, 250 plants of each population were obtained and then grown in field conditions in Río Primero, Córdoba province (Llao Llao nursery garden), in thoroughly sandy soil, with 500 mm of additional irrigation and 210 kg/ha of urea fertilization applied in spring-summer.

From each population, clones were selected according to growth habit and dry leaf production.
Up to date, 6 clones of B population and 5 of N population have been isolated.
Essential oil was extracted from each clone and the following yields, expressed as ml of essential oil per 100 g of dry leaves, were obtained: B₁ = 4.58%, B₃ = 3.93%; B₄ = 4.35%; B₅ = 4.40%; B₆ = 4.84%; B₇ = 3.46%; N₁ = 2.28%; N₂ = 1.55%; N₃ = 3.58%; N₄ = 2.20% and N₅ = 2.17%. A qualitative and quantitative analysis by gas chromatography (GC) and mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) was performed over each essential oil.
According to this result, the main component in B clones is carvone (74–78%) while the main component in N clones is -thujone (60–74%). A remarkable difference between both populations is observed as much in essential oil yield as in main components.
The leaf yield is about 3,000 kg/ha in dry leaves for each population.
Studies to quantify the dry leaf production of each clone are underway.

II WOCMAP Congress Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Part 3: Agricultural Production, Post Harvest Techniques, Biotechnology

R.A. Malizia, J.S. Molli, D.A. Cardell, R.J.A. Grau, G. Zumelzú

Aloysia polystachya, té de burro, essential oil, carvone, α-thujone

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1999.502.35