Study On The Variety Selection Of Trichosanthes Kirilowii Maxim And The Effects Of Mineral Elements In Soil On Its Quality

Trichosanthes kirilowii Maxim(short for T. kirilowii, or Trichosanthes), a kind of cucurbitaceous plants, is regarded as perennial herbaceous liana in vine and a dioecious plant. As a big kind of traditional Chinese medicinal herb, its root tuber, fruit, peel and seed could be used as medicine along with a resource of both pharmaceutical and food materials. In addition, T. kirilowii could also be used as a kind of landscape plants. The peel of T. kirilowii could help removing heat-phlegm and regulating qi. The seed of T. kirilowii highly contains oil, protein, vitamin, and 16 kinds of trace elements needed by human, like Ca, Fe, Zn, et al, owning the function serves several functions like protecting respiratory system and cardiovascular system, inhibiting the activities of cancer cells, treating diabetes mellitus, improving immunity. As top-grade dried melon seed, the fried seeds of T. kirilowii enjoy great popularity on the market and functions. The root of T. kirilowii, called Tian-Huafen in Chinese mandarin, is able to promote the production of human’s body fluid to quench thirst, reduce pathogenic fire and moisturize body, and immunize against AIDs and tumors.This study used the methods of systematic breeding to select the GL-1(a high-yield, high-quality and high-resistant variety of T. kirilowii which is native to Sichuan province in China) out from 30 varieties of Trichosanthes. GL-1 is the first genuine variety of T. kirilowii in Sichuan. In addition, this thesis also analyzed the the influence on the quality of T. kirilowii caused by mineral elements in soil, and the fat components and element content in Trichosanthes seeds, the further development on the products of T. kirilowii. Main contents of the thesis are as follows:1.Through individual plant selection, 13 well-performed T. kirilowii individuals are selected from the total of 30 T. kirilowii germplasm resources(collected from 23 different places out of 6 provinces in China). Then the 13 individuals are used to expand breeding and finally turn to 13 masculine strains of T. kirilowii.2. After tracking filtering process and comparing strains of T. kirilowii with each other in botanical features, main agronomic traits, insect and disease resistance, activated pharmaceutical ingredients(3,29-dibenzoyl-karounitriol), 4 well-performed ones are selected. According to the results, GL-1 and GL-2 have the most outstanding performance so that they both are used to run variety comparative test in different sites.3. The result of variety comparative test shows that both GL-1 and GL-2 have the capability of high production; and compared with the control(GL-CK), their botanic characteristics are clearly different in the production of fruit, which notably shows an over 10 % increase than the control. But in the terms of the resistance, GL-1 is better than GL-2: GL-1 shows high resistance(HR) to common plant diseases and insect pests; GL-2 turns to be weak when it reacts to anthrax and melon silk moth. Even though GL-2 has many advantages, like more weight in individuals and the high number of fruits, the weak resistance affects its effective production. In addition, both GL-1 and GL-2 meet the pharmacopoeia standard of the inner qualities. However, GL-1’s average percentage of Trichosanthes seed efficacy component(3,29-dibenzoyl-karounitriol) is 42.17 % higher than GL-2. Compared GL-1 and GL-2, the previous one performs better in a comprehensive level and is qualified to get into the next phase of production testing.4. Production testing results show that all characters of GL-1 are similar with the results in the tracking filtering process and variety comparative test; both of The appearance characteristics and inner qualities of GL-1 could meet the standard of pharmacopoeia; the production fruit production higher than control(GL-CK) in 8.51 %, significantly(p < 0.01); GL-1 has the characters of clear origin, stable quality, high production of fruit, high efficacy of ingredients, strong resistance, et al.GL-1 has passed the appraisal organized by government.5. Researching results of influences on T. kirilowii quality effected by mineral elements in soil show that there is a relevance between the mineral elements in soil and mineral elements in T. kirilowii seed; Cu, Fe in the soil and K in T. kirilowii seed, Mg in the soil and Mg in the T. kirilowii seed are very significant negative correlation(P<0.01); Ca in the soil and Zn in the T. kirilowii seed is significant positive correlation(P<0.05). The anthracnose disease rate is low in where the Fe and Cu content in soil is high, the correlation between mineral elements in soil and the resistance of T. kirilowii is positively, especially Fe and Cu are the most significant elements, which providing a theoretical guidance for preventing anthracnose of T. kirilowii.6. The relevance is poorer which existed between mineral elements in the soil and the contend of extract in T. kirilowii seed, in addition, except Mn and Mg, other 5 kinds of element are intensively related to the 3,29-dibenzoyl-karounitriol of T. kirilowii seed.7. Analyzing the results of the content and components of Trichosanthes seed oil shows that the average fat content of different Trichosanthes seeds is more than 35 %,, the unsaturated fatty acid content is more than 8 %, and the essential fatty acid content is more than 47 %.Trichosanthes seeds are also rich in linoleic acid, linolenic acid, EPA and DHA which are beneficial to human body. After analyzing the 23 kinds of mineral and heavy mental element’ contents in Trichosanthes seeds from different strains, the results show that Trichosanthes seed has great value in the fields of mineral nutrition and health care; therefore, T. kirilowii has a bright future on multipurpose utilization development.