Rose Flowers-A Delicate Perfume or a Natural Healer?

Plants from the Rosacea family are rich in natural molecules with beneficial biological properties, and they are widely appreciated and used in the food industry, perfumery, and cosmetics. In this review, we are considering Rosa damascena Mill., Rosa alba L., Rosa centifolia L., and Rosa gallica L. as raw materials important for producing commercial products, analyzing and comparing the main biological activities of their essential oils, hydrolates, and extracts. A literature search was performed to find materials describing (i) botanical characteristics; (ii) the phytochemical profile; and (iii) biological properties of the essential oil sand extracts of these so called "old roses" that are cultivated in Bulgaria, Turkey, India, and the Middle East. The information used is from databases PubMed, Science Direct, and Google Scholar. Roses have beneficial healing properties due to their richness of beneficial components, the secondary metabolites as flavonoids (e.g., flavones, flavonols, anthocyanins), fragrant components (essential oils, e.g., monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes), and hydrolysable and condensed tannins. Rose essential oils and extracts with their therapeutic properties-as respiratory antiseptics, anti-inflammatories, mucolytics, expectorants, decongestants, and antioxidants-are able to act as symptomatic prophylactics and drugs, and in this way alleviate dramatic sufferings during severe diseases.

Fruit phytochemical composition and color parameters of 21 accessions of five Rosa species grown in North West Iran.

BACKGROUND: The genus Rosa comprises economically important horticultural plants belonging to the family Rosaceae. Recently, the use of different Rosa species has increased owing to their multipurpose properties (ornamental, food and medicinal uses). In this study, 21 accessions of Rosa genotypes were compared for fruit phytochemical composition and color parameters. RESULTS: The highest antioxidant activity (37.86 mg AAE g-1 FW) and total phenolic (8.17 mg GAE g-1 FW), total flavonoid (2.53 mg QUE g-1 FW), total carotenoid (20.21 mg g-1 FW) and ascorbic acid (84.27 mg g-1 FW) contents were observed in G20 (R. canina), G8 (R. canina), G9 (R. canina), G5 (R. damascena) and G10 (R. moschata) respectively. Chlorogenic acid and gallic acid were found as the main phenolic constituents of Rosa fruits. High amounts of apigenin, rutin, quercetin, p-coumaric acid, cinnamic acid, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid and gallic acid were obtained in fruit extracts of G6, G14, G6, G8, G19, G9, G19 and G12 respectively. Moreover, the level of color parameters also varied among genotypes. The highest values of a*, b*, L* and chroma were obtained in G4 (R. canina). Based on hierarchical clustering analysis with heat-map, five groups of accessions were identified. CONCLUSION: Different Rosa genotypes are rich in certain phytochemical compounds, with significant variations in their levels being observed. Hence evaluation of Rosa genetic resources can supply valuable data for screening accessions containing high levels of individual phenolics, antioxidants and other bioactive compounds for use in breeding programs and food and pharma industries. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry.

Heavy metal accumulation imparts structural differences in fragrant Rosa species irrigated with marginal quality water.

Wastewater is an alternative to traditional sources of renewable irrigation water in agriculture, particularly in water-scarce regions. However, the possible risks due to heavy metals accumulation in plant tissues are often overlooked by producers. The present study aimed to identify heavy metals-induced structural modifications to roots of scented Rosa species that were irrigated with water of marginal quality. The chemical and mineral contents from the experimental irrigation canal water (control) and treated wastewater were below the limits recommended by the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) for medicinal plants. The experimentally untreated wastewater contained electrical conductivity (EC), chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD), and heavy metals (Co, Cu, Cd, Pb) that were above the recommended limits. The responses by wastewater-treated Rosa species (Rosa damascena, R. bourboniana, R. Gruss-an-Teplitz, and R. centifolia) were evaluated. The experimental data revealed that treated wastewater significantly increased the thickness of collenchyma (cortex and pith) and parenchyma tissues (vascular bundle, xylem, and phloem) of R. Gruss-an-Teplitz. Root dermal tissues (epidermis) of R. bourboniana also responded to treated wastewater. R. damascena and R. centifolia were the least affected species, under the experimental irrigation conditions. Collenchyma and dermal tissues were thicker in R. damascena and R. Gruss-an-Teplitz under untreated wastewater conditions. In parenchyma tissues, vascular bundles were thicker in R. damascena in untreated wastewater conditions, while the xylem and phloem of R. Gruss-an-Teplitz were thicker where treated wastewater was applied. In tissues other than the vascular bundle, the differences in anatomical metrics due to the experimental irrigation treatments were greater during the second year of the experiment than in the first year. The contents of metals other than chromium in the roots and stems of roses were below the WHO limits, under all of the experimental irrigation conditions. Rosa centifolia contained higher heavy metals content than the other experimental species, and heavy metals content was associated with anatomical changes due to the treatments. We conclude that, under conditions of wastewater irrigation, R. Gruss-an-Teplitz was highly resistant; R. damascena was moderately resistant while R. bourboniana and R. centifolia were the most susceptible to irrigation with marginal quality water. This is the first report of plant tissue responses to wastewater irrigation by the experimental species. Regarding the accumulation of heavy metals in rose plant tissues, the results confirm that untreated wastewater must be treated to grow Rosa species where water is scarce.

Antioxidant activity of selected wild Canadian prairie fruits.

BACKGROUND: Canadian prairies are a habitat for unique wild plants. The main object of the present study was to investigate phytochemicals content and antioxidant activity in seven wild Canadian prairie fruits. METHODS: The presence of total phenolics, flavonoids, anthocyanins and antioxidant activity were identified in the extracts according to standard procedure. RESULTS: Wild rose had the highest amounts of total phenolics and total flavonoids, whereas elderberry exhibited the highest amount of anthocyanins. All extracts showed good scavenging activities towards DPPH radicals. The results showed a good linear relationship between oxygen radical absorbance capacity and total phenolics indicating that radicals are scavenged at a greater rate as the total phenolics content increases. Additionally, all extracts when applied at concentration of 800 ppm, showed ability to inhibit oxidation of canola oil. In SOT test the best results were obtained when extract of American mountain ash was used. In general, wild rose followed by American mountain ash demonstrated the highest antioxidant activity among assessed Canadian prairie fruits. CONCLUSIONS: From the results it can be concluded that prairie fruit extracts are a rich source of phenolic compounds and poses a high antioxidant activity, confirmed by assessment with different type of radicals employed.

The potential of nutrient reuse from a source-separated domestic wastewater system in Indonesia--case study: ecological sanitation pilot plant in Surabaya.

Human excreta (faeces and urine) contribute only a small volume in domestic wastewater but are one of the main causes of water pollution. On the other hand, they contain very valuable nutrients to be reused as anthropogenic fertiliser through proper collection, treatment and hygienisation processes. To know the potential of nutrient recovery and reuse in Indonesia, a pilot scale source separation domestic wastewater system has been built in Surabaya and, so far, has shown promising results. Using urine diverting toilets, up to 86% nitrogen, 21% phosphorus and 69% potassium from urine and 12% of nitrogen, 68% of phosphorus and 20% of potassium from the faecal matter can be recovered. The separated urine was stored for 6 months before usage as fertiliser for hygienic reasons, while the separated faecal matter was composted with worms (vermicomposting). In order to investigate the fertilising effect, a preliminary cultivation experiment has been carried out on young rose plants using different fertilisers for 2 months.

[Comparison of the botanic morphology and blooming characteristics of four cultivars of rose].

OBJECTIVE: To establish identifying method for further development and utilization by studying botanic morphology and blooming characteristics of four varieties of roses in Jiangsu province. METHOD: Flower-bud and flower-form were observed by dissection and plant modality and blooming process were investigated. RESULT AND CONCLUSION: The flower form and plant modality was obviously different among the 4 varieties of roses. The process of differentiation of flower-bud could be divided into five stages: the transformation of nutritive growth cone, the occurrence and development of sepal, formation of petal primordium, formation of pistil and stamen. The blooming process was made up of flower-bud period, display-petal period, initiating blooming period, blooming period, withering period and corresponding biological marks.

Treatment of domestic wastewater using the nutrient film technique (NFT) to produce horticultural roses.

Removal of organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorus was investigated in a pilot based on the nutrient film technique system used for horticultural production. Rosebushes producing commercial roses were set on an inclined impermeable surface over which a thin film of domestic wastewater flowed directly through the root matrix. The roses produced with wastewater as nutrient solution were qualitatively and quantitatively similar to those produced traditionally and can be marketable. In the presence of the rosebushes, the lowering of chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD5) and suspended solids (SS) increased with their influent strengths in a linear fashion correlation. Whatever the pollutant load of the influent, within the range studied, the level of organic pollution required to allow the discharge of the effluent into water courses was reached after 24 h of treatment. At this time, the COD reached 39 +/- 13 mg L(-1), the BOD5 7 +/- 4 mg L(-1) and the SS 8 +/- 6 mg L(-1). The removal percentages were 89, 95 and 94, respectively, whereas without plants they were 55, 33 and 53, respectively. The rosebushes had a beneficial effect on the removal of phosphorus from 20% to 23% greater in their presence than without. In presence of plants, the nitrate was the principal form of nitrogen from 48 h of treatment whereas without rosebushes, nitrite represent more than 20% of initial nitrogen whatever the treatment duration. The root matrix served not only as a filter for the organic matter, but also provided a microhabitat suitable for nitrifying bacteria and heterotrophic micro-organisms, which responded rapidly to the pollutant load.