Results of the introduction and selection of Nepeta mussinii (Lamiaceae) in the M. M. Gryshko National Botanical Garden of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine

Abstract

Purpose. Create a collection fund and highly adaptive cultivar of the little common plant Nepeta mussinii Spreng. ex Henckel (Lamiaceae Lindl.), suitable for growing in the Forest-Steppe of Ukraine and using as an essential oil, medicinal, food and decorative culture. Methods. Common methods in the introduction of plants in the study of generic complexes and multiple individual selection, which is involved in the selection process. Results. The results of the use of essential oil plants after successful introduction in the conditions of the M. M. Gryshko National Botanical Garden of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NBS) on the example of a species of foreign flora N. mussinii, which today is an unconventional plant in Ukraine. The key stages of the complex scientific and applied research of the plant, from mobilization and accumulation of collection material, through introduction tests and selection process to the creation of high quality material and its use in applied innovative developments are shown. On the basis of studies conducted in the period of 2005–2018 in Ukraine, the Methodology for the examination of cultivars N. mussinii for distinctness, uniformity and stability was developed and the domestic cultivar N. mussinii ‘Posviata Meisu’ was created. The article presents the morphological features and technical characteristics of the cultivar, which ensure the recognition of plants among foreign varieties and promote its further multifunctional use – as an essential oil, medicinal, food, decorative culture. Considering the quantitative composition of individual biologically active compounds, the raw materials of plants of this cultivar are used in the recipe of the herbal tea “Rankova uvertiura” (Mor­ning Overture), recommended by the authors of the development as a restorative tonic with an antioxidant effect on the human body. This product is an intellectual development of the NBS. Conclusions. Comprehensive studies of rare ether-oil plants in the NBS have shown that their collection and introduction are a source for further selective and applied use of these plants. The example of N. mussinii demonstrates the stages of work – from the mobilization the original collection material to creating a cultivar and innovative developing.