Evaluation of Narcissus tazetta Under Different Habitats

Abstract

In this work, the bulbs of Narcissus tazetta were cultivated in three different localities under different habitats representing the loamy soil, the new reclaimed sandy soil and the sandy soil. Evaluation of the cultivated plant samples from each locality, including essential oil content and the total alkaloids; was done. The loamy soil showed to be the most suitable habitat for the cultivation of the plant. Investigation of the essential oil revealed that the highest oil content was recorded in the plants grown in the loamy soil (0.13 %). The plants cultivated at sandy soil gave the lowest yield of the oil (0.10 %). GC/MS of the essential oil for all samples showed that the main constituents of the oil are the same, but only differ in their percentages. The maximum terpenoid percentage (65.1 %) was determined in the plants cultivated in the loamy soil followed by sandy soil samples (52 %) and then new reclaimed sandy soil samples (47.65 %). The main constituents were α-pinene, limonine, linelool, methyl and ethyl cinnamate in all samples.The total alkaloids were extracted from the collected leaves of the cultivated samples. The highest alkaloid percent was found in the loamy soil leave samples (0.28 %) while the lowest one was found at the sandy soil samples (0.12). TLC-densitometry analysis indicated that the main spot of alkaloids might be identified as narcessine.