The Characteristics of the Growth and the Active Compounds of Angelica gigas Nakai in Cultivation Sites.

Yunmi Park,Sujin Sim,Hongwoo Park,Yurry Um,Pil Sun Park,Kwon Seok Jeon,Mahn-Jo Kim,Dae Hui Jeong,Nahyun Kim

doi:10.3390/plants9070823

Yunmi Park, Sujin Sim + Show 7 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9070823

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Abstract

The active compounds of medicinal plants vary in composition and content depending on environmental factors, such as light, temperature, and soil. According to the Korean Pharmacopoeia standards for herbal medicine, the sum of nodakenin, decursin, and decursinolangelate, which are the marker components of Korean Angelica, should be at least 6.0 g/100 g. However, the content of the components in Korean Angelica cultivated in South Korea often fall below 6.0 g/100 g, due to weather conditions and cultivation site characteristics. This study aimed to gather information about environmental factors that affect the root growth and the content of active compounds. In total, 18 cultivation sites in Pyeongchang, Jecheon, and Bonghwa regions in Korea were investigated for this study. Environmental factors, such as the monthly mean temperature, mean relative humidity, duration of sunshine, total precipitation, soil acidity, and the characteristics of soil nutrient, were investigated over the growing season from April to October 2017. As for the growth characteristics, the dry weight of roots of Korean Angelica was measured. The sum of the contents of the three active compounds was 5.3–7.0 g/100 g and the nodakenin content was 0.3–1.3 g/100 g in the cultivation sites. This study concludes that the root yields in the cultivation sites would be improved if weather conditions are maintained with similar levels as those in their natural habitats. Additionally, the environment that improves root growth did not increase the content of active compounds; however, when there was a lot of gravel or high temperatures during the growth period, the content of active compounds was relatively high.

Highlights

The active compounds of medicinal plants vary in composition and content depending on environmental factors, such as light, temperature, and soil
‘Korean Angelica’ (Angelica gigas Nakai) is a perennial plant of the genus Umbelliferae, where young shoots are eaten as seasoned vegetables and roots are used for medicinal purposes
An analysis of the gravel content of the soil in the cultivation sites showed that the content did not show much difference between the cultivation sites in Pyeongchang, and varied between 30.0%

Summary

Introduction

The active compounds of medicinal plants vary in composition and content depending on environmental factors, such as light, temperature, and soil. The content of the components in Korean Angelica cultivated in South Korea often fall below 6.0 g/100 g, due to weather conditions and cultivation site characteristics. 18 cultivation sites in Pyeongchang, Jecheon, and Bonghwa regions in Korea were investigated for this study Environmental factors, such as the monthly mean temperature, mean relative humidity, duration of sunshine, total precipitation, soil acidity, and the characteristics of soil nutrient, were investigated over the growing season from April to October 2017. The medicinal properties used by humans are a combination of species-specific secondary metabolites in plants [4] Unlike primary metabolites, such as carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, chlorophyll, and nucleic acids, which are essential for plants to maintain and increase their cell number, secondary metabolites play an important role in the physiological function of plants. These secondary metabolites play an important role in plant chemical defense of species against herbivores [4,5]

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