Química medicinal

Morphological and Biochemical Variability of Ethiopian Lippia adoensis Genotypes

Abstract

Desta Fikadu Egata

Lippia adoensis Hochst is an herbaceous plant of the genus Lippia belongs to the family Verbenaceae, which is an erect woody shrub that grows up to 1 m-3 m tall. It is an indigenous plant, endemic medicinal plant, and cultivated commonly in home gardens in different regions of Ethiopia with an altitudinal range of 1600 m-3000 m. The experiment was aimed to determine the morphological and bio-chemical performance and variability of Ethiopian Lippia adoensis. The experiment was conducted at Wondo Genet in 2020 using twenty-four selected genotypes. Seedlings were raised in a nursery using top cutting and transplanted to the experimental site after three months of age. Transplanted seedlings were managed properly as required and data were collected from; morphological, biochemical and economical traits at blooming stage. Essential oil was extracted from leaf and inflorescence using hydro distillation in a Clevenger-type apparatus. All measured parameters were showed a very highly significant difference at a tested location. Plant height varies from 1.25 m to 2.15 m, branch number/plant varies from 140-345, leaf color is light and deep green, an essential oil is very variable, leaf yield/hectare varies from 2.89 tons-13.53 tons and total essential oil yield/hectare varies from 12.16 liter-95.02 liter. Generally, this experiment revealed that Ethiopian Lippia adoensis is variable in morphology, economic, and biochemical traits and the obtained result is comparable with different international reports. In the next research, all potential growing areas should be covered during collection, the experiment should be repeated using representative agroecology and essential oil composition should be tested.