RELATIONSHIP OF MORPHOLOGICAL PARAMETERS AND CONTENT OF FLAVONOLS IN DIFFERENT PLANT ORGANS OF MEADOWSWEET ( (L.) MAXIM. S.L.)

Abstract

The interrelation of morphological parameters and flavonols content in leaves and inflorescences of meadowsweet ( Filipendula ulmaria (L.) Maxim. s.l.) in natural coenopopulations in the Middle Urals (10 coenopopulations) and Volga region (1 cenopopulation), as well as in conditions of culture in the botanical garden of Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences was studied. The absence of significant correlations for inflorescences of meadowsweet was shown, which allows to orient on coenopopulations with high phytomass of inflorescences at harvesting of raw materials. For the leaves there was established the presence of statistically significant negative correlation of the content of flavonols with plant height, the number of stem leaves and flower diameter. It is probably due to the multi-directional impact on these indicators of illumination intensity of habitats, and other environmental factors. Plant height and number of stem leaves are indirectly related to the biomass of medicinal raw materials. But harvesting of leaves from low-growing plants containing an increased amount of flavonols in the leaves, is perspective only in populations with high density of shoots per unit area, where the total phytomass of raw materials is high enough. The observed by several researchers negative correlation of accumulation of biologically active compounds and productivity of medicinal plants leads to the impossibility of a preliminary assessment of the prospectivity of specific coenopopulations with the help of morphological characters-markers which are correlatively connected both with the content of active substances (negatively) and a phytomass of raw materials (positively). When harvesting meadowsweet, which is currently proposed as a prospective medicinal raw material, one should, apparently, be oriented on coenopopulations with high phytomass of the plants, especially considering the fact that the content of flavonols in the inflorescences exceeds their content in the leaves by 1,9-3,3 times.