Phytochemical and Antioxidant Activity of the Essential Oils of Satureja briquetii L. from Morocco

Satureja briquetii L. (Labiatae) species are a well-known aromatic plant which is used to produce essential oils and aromatic water in the mountain regions of Sefrou part of Morocco. In our study, it was aimed to determine phytochemical and antioxidant activities of Satureja briquetii L. essential oils in vitro. Antioxidant activities of the oils at differents concentrations were evaluated using the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging. The extraction of essential oils from aerial part of this plant is carried out by hydrodistillation, and yields are 1.75% for dry aerial part and 1.05% for fresh aerial part. The analysis of the essential oils of dry aerial part from Satureja briquetii L. by GC/MS identified 57 principles compounds including Spathulenol (9.81%), Verbenone (4.35%), Camphene (3.56%), Himachalene (3,2%) and Cedrene (2,12%). The chromatographic profile of essential oils from fresh aerial part of Satureja briquetii L. has 49 constituents representing 96.25% of the essential oil, where the Menth-8-ene (14.99%), Cymene (4.97%) and Carene (4.97%) are major compounds. The Menth-1,4(8)-diene, (1,06%), Cubenol and Longifolene (3,44%) are in minority. Furthermore, the antioxidant activity of the essential art of Satureja briquetii L. was evaluated by the method of DPPH, and showed a significant efficiency in radical DPPH reducing with an IC50 value of of 31.027 ± 0.586 µg/ml from essential oils of dry aerial and 35.034 ± 0.0432 µg/ml in essential oils from fresh aerial part.

Identification of 'Ubá' mango tree zygotic and nucellar seedlings using ISSR markers

Polyembryonic seeds are characterized by the development of over one embryo in the same seed, which can be zygotic and nucellar. The objective of this work was to identify the genetic origin, whether zygotic or nucellar, of seedlings of polyembryonic seeds of 'Ubá' mango tree using ISSR markers, and relating them with the vigor of the seedlings. Thus, mangos were harvested in Visconde do Rio Branco (accession 102) and Ubá (accessions 112, 138, 152 and 159), whose seeds were germinated in plastic trays filled with washed sand. Fifty days after sowing, seedlings from five seeds of each one of the accessions 102, 112, 138, 159 and from 10 seeds of the accession 152, were analyzed. These sseedlings were characterized and evaluated for plant height, stem circumference and mass of fresh aerial part and the most vigorous seedling was the one displaying at least two of these traits higher than the other seedlings from seed. Leaves were collected for genomic DNA extraction, which was amplified using seven ISSR primers previously selected based on the amplification profile and considering the number and resolution of fragments. Zygotic seedlings were found in 18 seeds, which were the most vigorous in six seeds. The results evidenced the existence of genetic variability in orchards using seedlings grown from seeds, because the farmer usually uses the most vigorous ones, assuming that this is of nucellar origin. These results also indicate that the most vigorous seedling are not always nucellar, inasmuch as of 20% of the total seeds evaluated, the zygotic seedling was the most vigorous.