Abstract
Investigating agricultural traits and silymarin content variations in the domestic cultivation environment is necessary since the interest in milk thistle has increased as a high-income cash crop or plant capable of crop rotation. Therefore, this study selected six varieties cultivated for three years in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi-do, and one year in Haenam, Jeollanam-do, to analyze agricultural phenotypes and silymarin content variations. Among the varieties, M05 and M03 expressed the highest silybin and silymarin contents, maintaining a silybin ratio of over 15%. In addition, M03 and M05 exhibited no or minimal silydianin content in both regions, likely due to genetic factors. However, silydianin content tended to increase in most Haenam varieties, excluding M03 and M05. Compared to other varieties, M06 had a notably higher silydianin content and was further accumulated in Haenam, indicating a potential environmental influence.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the cooperative Research Program for Agriculture Science & Technology Development of the Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea (Project No. PJ01418503).
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J Shim: development of plant materials and draft writing, H Cho: analysis of silymarin, JS Sung and E Yoo: cultivation of M01 and M04, JH Chin: experimental design and analysis of agricultural phenotypes, S Lee: experimental design, draft writing, and supervision.
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Shim, J., Cho, H., Sung, J.S. et al. Agricultural phenotype and silymarin content variations of cultivated milk thistle in Korea. Hortic. Environ. Biotechnol. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13580-024-00618-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13580-024-00618-2