Diurnal and Seasonal Effects on the Taxane Content of the Clippings of Certain Taxus Cultivars

✍ Scribed by Hala N. ElSohly; Edward M. Croom Jr.; Wlodzimierz J. Kopycki; Alpana S. Joshi; James D. McChesney

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 187 KB
• Volume: 8
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0958-0344
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1565(199705)8:3<124::aid-pca342>3.0.co;2-1

✦ Synopsis

Clippings of ornamental cultivars of

Taxus were collected at different times of the day, and monthly for two growing seasons (June to October 1993 and March to October 1994). Uniformly dried samples were extracted and analysed for their content of six taxanes, namely 10-desacetyl baccatin III (1), baccatin III (2), 10-desacetyl taxol (3), cephalomannine (4), 10-desacetyl-7-epi-taxol (5) and taxol (6). Clippings harvested between noon and 8.00 p.m. provided biomass with a high total taxane content (0.099-0.102%) without sacrificing the yield of any of the individual taxanes. Data obtained from a seasonal study showed that the best time to harvest Taxus clippings for the production of taxanes (especially 1 and 6) is approximately one month from the beginning of new growth (flush). The date of harvest could vary depending on the geographic location and weather conditions.