A Comparative Study of Rhodiola rosae under Cultivation and Natural Growing Conditions

Abstract

Rhodiola rosae L., from the Crassulacea family, is a perennial widely known in Russian folk and official medicine for its adaptogenic properties. The extracts from the roots of Rhodiola rosae is known to be a better alternative to ginseng because of its better effects, safety for people having high blood pressure, cardiac and kidney problems, pregnancy, and minors. Rhodiola is collected mostly from the wild, and this practice has resulted in the decimation of the wild population in Altai mountains and in southern Siberia. The objective of this investigation was to find the best method of production and guarantee the availability of the raw material without compromising the quality. Plants were studied under naturally growing conditions and brought into cultivation. We used seeds to propagate. Morphological traits, flowering, leaf area, shoot and root yield, and content of salidroside (biologically active component in the root) were measured in 50 plants. The measurements were taken during the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd years of the cultivated plants, while parallel measurements were taken from the same place of naturally growing plants. Plants under natural conditions did not receive any agronomic treatment, while normal agronomic practices were given for plots under cultivation. We found significant difference an all measured parameters. Though higher root yield was obtained from cultivated plants, the concentration of salidroside was found to be higher naturally grown plants. With the increasing age of the cultivated plants, however, the concentration of salidroside significantly increased. The total yield of salidroside, g/m2 was found to increase consistently each year for cultivated variants compared to plots under natural growth.