The unit is working on cultivation and breeding of medicinal, aromatic and dye plants economically grown and adapted to Central Anatolian Region which are under serious treatment of genetic erosion due to intensive collection. To contribute to the increase of the number of local medicinal and aromatic plant cultivar and syntetic varieties to the relevant growers - which are very limited compared to many developed countries- and provide seed and quality drug material having high biomass and seed yielding is another interest of the unit.

Area of Expertise

The recent interest to alternative medicine and the development of the herbal tea industry have increased the demand to quality material, for industrial use. The fact that the limited number of varieties in medical and aromatic plant production in Turkey, the grower face to use uncharacterized MAP material in population character. Several breeding projects on oregano (Origanum vulgare var. hirtum), common sage (Salvia officinalis) and black cumin (Nigella sativa) are carrying out having high biomass and adaptation to Central Anatolian climatic conditions. There are also different lavander (Lavandula spp.) species and varieties, lemonbalm (Melissa officinalis), thyme (Thymus vulgaris) and liquorice (Glycrrhiza glabra) plantations in the Research and Application Farm of İkizce. By means of the project entitled 'Agro-morphological characterization of some medicinal and aromatic plants'; around 60 perennial and annual MAP species were characterized and herbaceums were created to provide ex-situ conservation in our National Seed Gene Banks.

Research Infrastructure

There is a plastic covered greenhouse where we carry out our germination and rooting studies, 2 dessicator in which we perform drying processes of plant materials in the laboratory and a neo-clevenger apparatus which we use to determine essential oil ratios.