Morphological-anatomic analysis of the medicinal plant raw material of the herb Daucus carota

M. Hrytsyna; I. Salamon; N. Mazur; R. Firman

doi:10.15421/0225161

M. Hrytsyna Stepan Gzhytskyi National University of Veterinary Medicine and Biotechnologies
I. Salamon University of Presov
N. Mazur Stepan Gzhytskyi National University of Veterinary Medicine and Biotechnologies
R. Firman Stepan Gzhytskyi National University of Veterinary Medicine and Biotechnologies

Keywords: Daucus carota, herb, plant raw materials, inflorescences, fruits, microscopy, macroscopy, epidermis, dialytic stomatal apparatus.

Abstract

Daucus carota (wild carrot ) is a wild plant with unlimited resources used in pharmacology. Its medicinal raw materials are fruits ( Fructus dauci ), but inflorescences and leaves have various biologically active substances. There is a need for their detailed study. The research study aims to describe in detail this biennial herb's anatomical and morphological characteristics, which are promising for phytotherapeutic use. The D. carota leaves are short-petiolate, deep green, oblong in outline, three times pinnately dissected, with incised-toothed lobes, pubescent with one-, rarely two-, three-celled sharp hairs. Up the shoot, the leaves are sessile, forming a sheath; their terminal lobes gradually become oblong. The epidermis on the lower side of the leaf has rectangular cells with slightly curved walls and a diacytic stomatal apparatus. Under it lies the collenchyma. Along the veins are pointed, one-celled, warty hairs. The epidermis on the upper side is formed from small polygonal, cells; stomata are single. Columnar parenchyma is formed by 1 – 2 rows of elongated cells. The spongy tissue consists of wide, irregularly shaped cells that do not fit tightly together. There is a layer of special cells in which assimilates accumulate at the border between the spongy and palisade tissues. The conducting bundle is closed, bilateral, surrounded by sheath cells. The inflorescence is a compound umbel, each ray forming a secondary umbel. At the base of the compound umbel there is a spathe of pinnately dissected leaves. The marginal flowers of the outer umbels have petals of different sizes, incised into unequal lobes, with veins, yellowish-white with pink edges. In the inner flowers of the umbels and the inner umbels of the complex inflorescence, the flowers have five identical, broadly oval, white petals , incised in the middle, and curved upwards. Their epidermal cells are oval, large, with nuclei and papillary hairs. Since a high content of coumarins and pyrocatechins was found in the inflorescence of D. carota , the diagnostic features of its medicinal raw material ( the herb ) were described for further scientific research, writing a monograph for the European Pharmacopoeia and creating new herbal medicines based on it.

References

Alves-Silva, J. M., Zuzarte, M., Gonçalves, M. J., Cavaleiro, C., Cruz, M. T., Cardoso, S. M., & Salgueiro, L. (2016). New claims for wild carrot (Daucus carota subsp. carota) essential oil. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2016, 9045196.

Ayeni, E. A., Ahmed, A., Ibrahim, G., & Vallada, A. (2017). Pharmacognostic evaluation of Daucus carota Linn. leaf (Apiaceae). Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry , 6(5), 2400–2405.

Chizzola, R. (2010). Composition of the essential oil from Daucus carota ssp. carota growing wild in Vienna. Journal of Essential Oil Bearing Plants, 13(1), 12–19.

Chubka, M. B., Vronska, L. V., Sur, S. V., Smalyukh, O. G., & Kernychna, I. Z. (2013). Spektrofotometrychne vyznachennia flavonoyidiv u plodakh morkvy dykoyi [Spectrophotometric determination of flavonoids in wild carrot fruits]. Medical Chemistry, 13(1), 88–94 (in Ukrainian).

Dawid, C., Dunemann, F., Schwab, W., Nothnagel, T., & Hofmann, T. (2015). Bioactive C17-polyacetylenes in carrots (Daucus carota L.): Current knowledge and future perspectives. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 63(42), 9211–9222.

Dedieu, L., Brunel, J. M., Lorenzi. V., Muselli, A., Berti, L., & Bolla, J. M. (2020). Antibacterial mode of action of the Daucus carota essential oil active compounds against Campylobacter jejuni and efflux-mediated drug resistance in Gram-negative bacteria. Molecules, 25(22), 5448.

Gonny, M., Bradesi, P., & Casanova, J. (2004). Identification of the components of the essential oil from wild Corsican Daucus carota L. using 13C-NMR spectroscopy. Flavour and Fragrance Journal, 19, 424–433.

Holm, L., Pancho, J. V., Herberger, J. P., & Plucknett, D. L. (1979). A geographical atlas of world weeds. John Wiley and Sons, Hoboken.

Jansen, G. C., & Wohlmuth, H. (2014). Carrot seed for contraception: A review. Australian Journal of Herbal Medicine, 26(1), 10–17.

Klokov, M. V., & Visyulina, O. D. (1955). Flora of the Ukrainian SSR. Volume 7. Carrot genus (Daucus L.). Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, Kyiv. Pp. 617–618.

Kryvtsova, M., Hrytsyna, M., Salamon, I., Skybitska, M., & Novykevuch, O. (2022). Chemotypes of species of the genus Thymus L. in Carpathians Region of Ukraine – their essential oil qualitative and quantitative characteristics and antimicrobial activity. Horticulturae, 8(12), 1218.

Kyslychenko, O. A., Kotov, A. G., Kotova, E. E., Protska, V. V., & Zhuravel, I. O. (2019). Rozrobka metodyk identyfikatsiyi plodiv Daucus carota L. dlya vklyuchennya v proekt natsional’noyi monohrafiyi Derzhavnoyi Farmakopeyi Ukrayiny [Development of methods for identifying Daucus carota L. fruits for inclusion in the draft national monograph of the State Pharmacopoeia of Ukraine]. Phytotherapy, 1, 72–76 (in Ukrainian).

Kyslychenko, O. A., Kotov, A. G., Kotova, E. E., Protska,V. V., & Zhuravel, I. O. (2019). Kil’kisne vyznachennya flavonoyidiv u plodakh morkvy dykoyi ta morkvy posivnoyi z vykorystannyam unifikovanoyi metodyky derzhavnoyi farmakopeyi Ukrayiny [Quantitative determination of flavonoids in the fruits of wild carrot and cultivated carrot using the unified methodology of the State Pharmacopoeia of Ukraine]. Phytotherapy, 2, 29–33 (in Ukrainian).

Kyslychenko, O. A., Protska, V. V., Zhuravel, I. O., & Hutsol, V. V. (2018). The study of Daucus carota subsp. sativus fruits fatty acid composition of “Olenka”, “Kharkivska Nantska” and “Yaskrava” varieties. Research Journal of Pharmaceutical, Biological and Chemical Sciences, 9(6), 307–312.

Kyslychenko, O. A., Sokolova, O. O., Kotov, A. G., Protska, V. V., Zhuravel, I. O., & Kotova, E. E. (2019). Doslidzhennya anatomichnykh oznak plodiv morkvy dykoyi та morkvy posivnoyi [Study of anatomical features of wild carrot and cultivated carrot fruits]. Pharmaceutical Journal, 2, 40–46 (in Ukrainian).

Marzouki, H., Khaldi, A., Falconieri, D., Piras, A., Marongiu, B., Molicotti, P., & Zanetti, S. (2010). Essential oils of Daucus carota subsp. carota of Tunisia obtained by supercritical carbon dioxide extraction. Natural Product Communications, 5(12), 1955–1958.

Mockute, D., & Nivinskiene, O. (2004). The sabinene chemotype of essential oil of seeds of Daucus carota L. ssp. carota growing wild in Lithuania. Journal of Essential Oil Research, 16, 277–281.

Özcan, M. М., & Chalchat, J. C. (2007). Chemical composition of carrot seeds (Daucus carota L.) cultivated in Turkey: Characterization of the seed oil and essential oil. Grasas y Aceites, 58(4), 359–365.

Pavlyuk, I., Stadnytska, N., Jasicka-Misiak, I., Gorka, B., Wieczorek, P., & Novikov, V. (2015). A study of the chemical composition and biological activity of extracts from wild carrot (Daucus carota L.) seeds waste. Research Journal of Pharmaceutical, Biological and Chemical Sciences, 6, 603–611.

Pazyuk, D.-M. V., Dababneh, M. F., Zhuravel, I. A., Kyslychenko, A. A., Burda, N. Y., Korniyenko, S. I., & Mogilnaya, E. N. (2017). HPLC determination of phenolic acids in the underground part of carrots of “Nantska Kharkivska” and “Yaskrava” varieties. Research Journal of Pharmaceutical, Biological and Chemical Sciences, 8(2), 1833–1836.

Pazyuk, D.-M. V., Zhuravel, I. O., Kyslychenko, O. A., & Burda, N. E. (2017). Vyvchennya letkykh fraktsiy syrovyny morkvy posivnoyi sortiv “Yaskrava” ta “Nants’ka kharkivs’ka” [Study of volatile fractions of raw carrot seed varieties “Yaskrava” and “Nantska Kharkivska”]. ScienceRise: Pharmaceutical Science, 3(7), 32–37 (in Ukrainian).

Quagliotti, L. (1967). Effects of different temperatures on stalk development, flowering habit and sex expression in the carrot. Euphytica, 16, 83–103.

Servi, H., Şen, A., Yıldırım Servi, E., & Doğan, A. (2025). Chemical composition and biological activities of essential oils of Foeniculum vulgare Mill. and Daucus carota L. growing wild in Turkey. Journal of Research in Pharmacy, 25(2), 142–152.

Shebaby, W. N., Daher, C. F., El-Sibai, M., Bodman-Smith, K., Mansour, A., Karam, M. C., & Mroueh, M. (2015). Antioxidant and hepatoprotective activities of the oil fractions from wild carrot (Daucus carota ssp. carota). Pharmaceutical Biology, 53(9), 1285–1294.

Shinohara, S. (Ed.). (1984). Vegetable seed production technology of Japan. Volume 1. Shinohara's Authorized Agricultural Consulting Engineer Office, Tokyo.

Smalyukh, O. G., & Sur, S. V. (2013). Standartyzatsiya plodiv morkvy dykoyi za skladom i vmistom flavonoyidiv [Standardization of wild carrot fruits by composition and content of flavonoids]. Topical Issues of Pharmaceutical and Medical Science and Practice, 11, 88–93 (in Ukrainian).

Stadnytska, N. Y., Pavlyuk, I. V., Dumych, I. I., & Blonsky, O. V. (2014). Doslidzhennya perspektyvnosti vykorystannia plodiv morkvy dykoyi yak dzherela novykh kompleksiv biolohichno aktyvnykh rechovyn [Research on the prospects of using wild carrot fruits as a source of new complexes of biologically active substances]. Bulletin of Lviv Polytechnic National University. Chemistry, Technology of Substances and Their Application, 787, 243–248 (in Ukrainian).

Staniszewska, M., Kula, J., Wieczorkiewicz, M., & Kusewicz, D. (2005). Essential oils of wild and cultivated carrots – the chemical composition and antimicrobial activity. Journal of Essential Oil Research, 17(5), 579–583.

Stanojević, J., Ilić, Z. S., Stanojević, L., Milenković, L., Kovač, R., Lalević, D., Šunić, L., Milenković, A., & Cvetković, D. (2023). Essential oil yield, composition, and antioxidant activity in two umbel maturity stages of wild carrot (Daucus carota L. ssp. carota) from Montenegro. Horticulturae, 9(3), 328.

Stein, M., & Nothnagel, T. (1995). Some remarks on carrot breeding (Daucus carota sativus Hoffm.). Plant Breeding, 114(1), 1–11.

Tkachuk, O. Y., Vyshnevska, L. I., & Markiv, V. I. (2013). Analiz farmatsevtychnoho rynku likars’kykh zasobiv na osnovi nasinnya morkvy dykoyi [Analysis of the pharmaceutical market of medicines based on wild carrot seeds]. Clinical Pharmacy, 17(2), 19–22 (in Ukrainian).

Tutin, T. G., Heywood, V. H., Burges, N. A., Moore, D. M., Valentine, D. H.,Walters, S. M., & Webb, D. A. (Eds.). (1968). Flora Europaea. Volume 2. Rosaceae to Umbelliferae. 108. Daucus L. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Pp. 373–375.