Sustainable Exploitation of Greek Rosmarinus officinalis L. Populations for Ornamental Use through Propagation by Shoot Cuttings and In Vitro Cultures

Stefanos Kostas, Aikaterini Kaplani, Efthymia Koulaouzidou, Aikaterini-Angeliki Kotoula, Evangelos Gklavakis, Parthena Tsoulpha, Stefanos Hatzilazarou, Irini Nianiou-Obeidat, Angelos K. Kanellis and Athanasios Economou
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Stefanos Kostas: Laboratory of Floriculture, School of Agriculture, Aristotle University, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Aikaterini Kaplani: Laboratory of Genetics and Plant Breeding, School of Agriculture, Aristotle University, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Efthymia Koulaouzidou: Laboratory of Genetics and Plant Breeding, School of Agriculture, Aristotle University, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Aikaterini-Angeliki Kotoula: Laboratory of Floriculture, School of Agriculture, Aristotle University, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Evangelos Gklavakis: Evangelos Gklavakis Nurseries, 58400 Aridea, Greece
Parthena Tsoulpha: Laboratory of Forest Genetics and Plant Breeding, School of Forestry and Natural Environment, Aristotle University, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Stefanos Hatzilazarou: Laboratory of Floriculture, School of Agriculture, Aristotle University, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Irini Nianiou-Obeidat: Laboratory of Genetics and Plant Breeding, School of Agriculture, Aristotle University, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Angelos K. Kanellis: Laboratory of Pharmacognosy, Group of Biotechnology of Pharmaceutical Plants, School of Pharmacy, Aristotle University, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Athanasios Economou: Laboratory of Floriculture, School of Agriculture, Aristotle University, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 7, 1-21

Abstract: Rosmarinus officinalis L. belongs to the Lamiaceae family and is cultivated worldwide due to its diverse uses as an ornamental evergreen shrub in gardening, as well as a food seasoning and a natural medicine. The present research was conducted to study the morphological traits of seven wild-grown rosemary populations in Greece, as well as the propagation of two selected populations with the most desirable ornamental characteristics, by the use of shoot cuttings and in vitro cultures. From the study of the morphological traits of the seven populations, those with interesting features were grown in the areas of Amaliada and Piperia and, thus, were chosen for studying their propagation. Rooting of the shoot cuttings was carried out during the four seasons of the year, using potassium salt Indole-3-butyric acid (K-IBA) at concentrations of 0.5 and 1 g·L −1 , in various substrates under the intermittent mist or fog system. It was found that the shoot cuttings rooted easily in all four seasons, but there were better results for the population of ‘Piperia’ in autumn, with 1 g·L −1 K-IBA (80%), and ‘Amaliada’ in spring, with 0.5 g·L −1 K-IBA (82.5%), while higher rooting percentages were achieved in the fog system, on a substrate consisting of perlite and peat, in a ratio of 2:1 (85%). For the in vitro cultures, shoot tips excised from the two selected populations were successfully disinfested by pre-soaking in an antioxidant solution and then, by sterilizing them in 0.6% ( w / v ) NaOCl, followed by transferring them onto a Murashige and Skoog (MS) nutrient medium. ‘Amaliada’ cultures proved to be the most productive population (2.1 shoots per explant), with the highest shoot formation frequency (91.6%), when cultivated on the MS nutrient medium without plant growth regulators. For ‘Piperia’ cultures, the highest shoot formation frequency (66.6%) was achieved on the MS nutrient medium supplemented with 0.25 or 0.5 mg·L −1 6-Benzyloaminopurine (BAP) and 0.1 mg·L −1 Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). Spontaneous root formation frequency was noticed on the MS nutrient medium, containing 0.5 mg·L −1 BAP and 0.1 mg·L −1 IAA, for both ‘Amaliada’ and ‘Piperia’ cultures (50% and 41.6%, respectively) in a single stage, with root lengths of 7.1 and 5.3 cm, respectively. Rosemary plantlets, with roots formed in vitro after transplanting them in soilless substrate, were acclimatized adequately in the greenhouse environment (~70%).

Keywords: biodiversity; fog rooting system; intermittent mist; K-IBA; rosemary (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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