Effects of different cutting methods and times of cutting on growth performance and gum resin production of ferula assa-foetida

Abstract

Ferula assa-foetida L. is an important industrial and medicinal plant of Iran which is mainly distributed in arid and semi-arid areas of Khorasan province in north east of the country. Gum of this plant is widely used in pharmacological industry. This plant is endangered because of more harvesting and unsustainable harvesting methods. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of different cutting methods (conventional, cut of crown part, concave and surface) and times of cutting (5, 10 and 13 times) on gum yield of this species in its wild habitat in Mazar region in Bajistan. The treatments were studied under a factorial experiment which was arranged in a completely randomized design with three replications. Results showed significant differences among cutting methods and times of harvesting. Yield of gum was affected by times of harvesting and the highest yield was obtained in 10 cutting times. The highest and lowest gum yields were obtained in concave method with 10 cutting times (25.24 g/plant) and superficial method with 5 cutting times (2.02 g/plant), respectively. Results showed that conventional cutting method destroys crown buds, which causes death of the plant. The highest gum yields and the best plant regeneration rates were obtained by using of concave method with 10 cutting times.Ferula assa-foetida L. je vazna industrijska i lekovita biljka u Iranu koja je uglavnom rasprostranjena u aridnim i semiaridnim podrucjima pokrajine Horasan u severoistocnom delu zemlje. Guma ove biljke ima siroku upotrebu u farmaceutskoj industriji. Ova biljka je ugrozena zbog sve vece sece i neodgovarajucih metoda secenja. Cilj ovog rada je bio da se ocene uticaji razlicitih metoda secenja (konvencionalni metod, secenje krune, konkavno i povrsinsko secenje) i broja secenja (5, 10 i 13 puta) na prinos gume ove vrste u njenom prirodnom stanistu u oblasti Mazar u Badzestanskom okrugu. Tretmani su proucavani u faktorijalnom eksperimentu koji je postavljen po metodu blok sistema sa potpuno slucajnim rasporedom u tri ponavljanja. Rezultati su pokazali znacajne razlike medju metodama i brojem secenja. Prinos gume je bio uslovljen brojem secenja i najvisi prinos je dobijen primenom deset secenja. Najvisi i najnizi prinosi gume su uoceni kod konkavnog metoda sa 10 secenja (25,24 g po biljci) odnosno kod povrsinske metode sa 5 secenja (2,02 g po biljci). Rezultati su pokazali da konvencionalna metoda secenja unistava pupoljke u kruni, sto uzrokuje i uginuce biljke. Najvisi prinosi gume i najbolja regeneracija biljaka su postignuti koriscenjem konkavnog metoda sa 10 secenja.