Formation of the Yield of Matricaria recutita and Indicators of Food Value of Sychorium intybus by Technological Methods of Co-Cultivation in the Interrows of an Orchard

Abstract

This study was aimed at theoretical generalizations and experimental results of research on the influence of the combined cultivation of medicinal plants wild chamomile (Matricaria recutita L.) and root chicory (Sychorium intybus L.) in the rows of gardens, which actualizes the issue of increasing productivity in industrial orchards. We the authors strive strove to increase the efficiency of growing research crops using fruit plantations, thereby ensuring a shortened payback period for capital investments spent on their creation. The conducted scientific studies have shown that the effect of aster yield on the content of bioactive substances in medicinal plant raw materials depends on the type of soil and climatic conditions of the studied territory, the cultivar, the sowing period, the genetic characteristics of the seeds, and the sowing conditions. The purpose of the conducted research was to determine the patterns of crop formation of the presented medicinal plants in the inter-row orchard according to the elements of agricultural techniques of cultivation in under the agroecological conditions of the Forest Steppe of Ukraine. As a result of the conducted research, the expediency of cultivating existing plants on the area of the allotted plot was confirmed. The optimal timing of autumn sowing for cultivar ‘Perlyna Lisostepu’ with a seeding rate of 6 kg/ha and a yield of dry mass of inflorescences of 1.81 t ha−1 was studied. The main indicators of the seedless method of planting chicory root crops of the second year for wintering in the open ground were established, while 35-40 t ha−1 of high-quality root crops were obtained. Using the methods of qualitative and quantitative analysis, the raw materials of chamomile medicinal cultivars ‘Perlyna Lisostepu’ and ‘Bodegold’ were investigated for the content of flavonoids, chamazulene and its derivatives, as one of the important indicators of the quality of the essential oil, as the component composition of the root chicory cultivars ‘Umansky-99’ and ‘Umansky-97’, in relation to the quantitative ratio hydroxycinnamic acids and flavonoids in a 1:1 infusion. Accumulation of inulin continued throughout the growing season of root chicory, reaching the optimal content at the beginning of technical ripeness, and the highest rate was 11.5–17.51% in the sub-winter sowing period.

Keywords

• chemical composition
• productivity
• quality of raw materials
• medicinal chamomile
• root chicory
• compatible plantings