Investigation on pollination approaches, reproductive biology and essential oil variation during floral development in German chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.).

ABSTRACT

German chamomile is an important medicinal and aromatic herb known for its blue essential oil. It lacks studies on anthesis, breeding systems and floral development with their impact on the essential oil. Therefore, the study investigated floral development and divided it into six reproductive stages (RS-1 to RS-6). The first four stages (5-6 days long) were identified as the floral enlargement and differentiation, followed by the fifth stage (10 days long) of three anthesis flushes, i.e., anther dehiscence, ray and disc florets' style branches flush. Anther dehiscence started 1-2 days before style branches flushes showed protandry and overlapped later with style branches flushes. Pollen production started from RS-3 and showed maximum viability (89%) at anther dehiscence (RS-5.1). Pollen showed dispersal through the air up to 0.7 m distance. Seed setting in controlled pollination experiments showed that removing disc florets could be successfully used as the emasculation alternate in German chamomile. The maximum essential oil content (0.40%) at the full blossomed floral stage (RS-4 &-5) suggested the right time for capitula harvesting. The findings on reproductive biology and breeding systems would offer several tools and techniques to support future breeding programs for genetic improvement of German chamomile.