Crișan Ioana, Ona Andreea, Vârban Dan, Muntean Leon, Vârban Rodica, Stoie Andrei, Mihăiescu Tania, Morea Adriana
Department of Botany, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca, Calea Mănăștur Street No. 3-5, 400372 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca, Calea Mănăștur Street No. 3-5, 400372 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Plants (Basel). 2023 Jan 12;12(2):357. doi: 10.3390/plants12020357.
Lavender is in the research spotlight due to its increasing economic importance, while market demand is expected to continue to grow. Among the hundreds of essential-oil-bearing plants, Mill. remains one of the most valuable. This paper explores the lavender chain timeline from crop to products, examining the expanding knowledge on the characteristics, phytochemical profile and functional potential of lavender that could lead to new products and uses. Lavender crops can be expanded without competing for productive land, instead using marginal, contaminated or unproductive land. A novel cultivation trend proposes leveraging agri-background biodiversity, arbuscular mycorrhiza and the natural enemies of pests for healthy crops. Together with breeding efforts targeting highly performant genotypes with complex volatile profiles coupled with resistance to specific biotic (particularly ) and abiotic (salt, heavy metals) stressors, industry could have a steady supply of high-quality raw material. Besides the expansion of the uses of essential oil in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, food and environmental and agri-applications, novel channels have appeared for the use of the solid by-product, which is rich in polyphenols and polysaccharides; these channels have the potential to create additional streams of value. The stabilization and optimization of techno-functional delivery systems through the encapsulation of essential oil can extend shelf-life and enhance biological activity efficiency.
薰衣草因其日益重要的经济价值而成为研究热点，且市场需求有望持续增长。在数百种含精油植物中，薰衣草仍是最具价值的植物之一。本文探讨了从作物到产品的薰衣草产业链时间线，研究了关于薰衣草特性、植物化学成分和功能潜力的不断扩展的知识，这些知识可能会带来新产品和新用途。薰衣草作物的种植可以在不与生产性土地竞争的情况下扩大，而是利用边缘、受污染或非生产性土地。一种新的种植趋势建议利用农业背景生物多样性、丛枝菌根和害虫天敌来种植健康作物。再加上针对具有复杂挥发性成分且对特定生物（尤其是）和非生物（盐、重金属）胁迫具有抗性的高性能基因型的育种工作，行业可以获得稳定的高质量原材料供应。除了精油在化妆品、制药、食品以及环境和农业应用中的用途不断扩大外，富含多酚和多糖的固体副产品的新用途渠道也已出现；这些渠道有可能创造额外的价值流。通过精油包封实现技术功能传递系统的稳定和优化，可以延长保质期并提高生物活性效率。
