Valeriana officinalis

Propagation

Germination

Seeds can be direct sown in the field in the late summer, autumn, or spring (Zone 6; Poland).[1]

Officinalis seeds are not tolerant of drought stress.[3]

Germination speed in diverse populations of wild officinalis averages 7.4 days and varies from 5.43 to 13.00 days.[2]

Positive photoblastic.[4]

Vegetative

In-Vitro

Cultivation

In a three-year study of planting density, 50cm × 15-20cm spacing provided the highest economic yield.[7]

Officinalis is typically found and cultivated in soils with high water potential: peat bogs, wet meadows, and water banks.[2][4]

[4]

Harvest

Floral stems are trimmed to encourage root growth.[4]

Drying temperature should not exceed 40°C to minimize the evaporation of essential oils.[4]

Yield

[2]

Soilless

[8]

Soil

Seedlings about 15cm tall can be transplanted to soil after 3 months.[5] Another study transplanted seedlings at the 3-4 leaf stage, about 6 weeks after sowing.[1]

Soil should be tilled to at least 15cm deep to allow for good root development.[4]

Autumn transplanted officinalis tends to give higher yields.[4]

[8]

Fertilization

Irrigation can increase the yield by 30-40%.[4]

[8]

Temperature

Officinalis typically grows in areas with an average annual temperature of 8 to 11°C and can withstand temperatures as low as -22°C.[4]

Lighting

Pests

Officinalis seeds are susceptible to damping off. The European mole cricket (Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa) feeds on the young seedling roots. Adult plants are susceptible to powdery mildew (Erysiphe polygoni), valeria rust (Uromyces valeriane), Ascochyta valerianaceae, Alternaria alternata, and Aphis fabae.[4]

Ecology

Morphology

Officinalis is a diverse taxon with many polymorphic subspecies, types, and hybrids.[2]

[1] [2]

Roots

Stem

Leaves

Inflorescence

Seeds

Phytochemistry

The yield of essential oils from the underground parts of many officinalis populations ranged from 3.9 to 10.4 ml/kg.[2]

[1] [2]

Infraspecific Variation

[2]

Biosynthesis

Distribution

Timecourse

Improvement

Identification

Inheritance

Methods

Hermaphrodite. Dichogamous.[2] High outcrossing rate.[10]

Young plants can be vernalized for 6-weeks at 4°C to encourage a high first-year flowering rate.[10]

History & Society

Work Log

18 Feb 2023

I want to test vernalization to get some flowering this year. Probably a 6-cell

17 Feb 2023

If each plant yields 20 grams of dry roots, that means I need about 8 plants. If, however, the yield is 8 grams, I will need 20 plants. Let’s just go with more plants than I could need.

07 Feb 2023

The typical daily dose of valerian root is about 450mg. If taken every day, that’s 160 grams.

Bibliography

1. Wiśniewski, J. and Szczepanik, M. and Kołodziej, Barbara and Król, Beata, Plantation Methods Effects on Common Valerian (Valeriana Officinalis) Yield and Quality, The Journal of Animal \& Plant Sciences, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 177--184, February 2016. Abstract
   The study aimed at determination of the optimum conditions for high yielding and high quality of Valeriana officinalis L. production by selecting the best variety and plantation establishment method. A higher content of active substances but lower yields of underground parts of plants were obtained in a thin-rooted variety (‘Polka’) culture, whereas an adverse tendency was observed in a thick-rooted cultivar (‘Lubelski’). Raw material from plants produced by direct seeding was characterised by a higher content of active substances and, despite lower yields, it should be recommended in high quality valerian culture. Plants grown from the seedlings produced higher yields; however, their quality expressed by the content of valerenic acid (VA) was lower. The highest yield was obtained from seedlings planted in autumn (with a satisfactory content of VA) and therefore the method could be used for valerian plantation establishment. A positive correlation was found between the content of essential oils and VA; hence, varieties with higher essential oil accumulation should be chosen for commercial cultivation of this species. Greater accumulation of VA and essential oils was observed in dried roots separated from the underground parts of the plants prior to drying in comparison to the rhizomes. © 2016, Pakistan Agricultural Scientists Forum. All rights reserved.
2. Bączek, Katarzyna Barbara and Kosakowska, Olga and Boczkowska, Maja and Bolc, Paulina and Chmielecki, Rafał and {Pióro-Jabrucka}, Ewelina and Raj, Kavana and Węglarz, Zenon, Intraspecific Variability of Wild-Growing Common Valerian (Valeriana Officinalis L.), Plants, vol. 11, no. 24, pp. 3455, January 2022. doi: 10.3390/plants11243455. Abstract
   Common valerian (Valeriana officinalis L.) is an important medicinal plant revealing sedative, hypotensive, anti-spasmodic and anxiolytic activity. The purpose of the study was to determine the intraspecific variability of the common valerian growing wild in Poland and the ‘Lubelski’ landrace, as to their developmental traits, chemical composition and selected genetic parameters. Both wild-growing populations (19) and the landrace (1) were evaluated under ex situ conditions. Observations of the underground organs parameters, both developmental and chemical (according to the European Pharmacopoeia) were carried out in the first year of the plant’s development, while the characteristics of the aboveground organs, followed by the sowing value of seeds (according to the International Seed Testing Association)—in the second year. The genetic analyses were performed using the NGS-DArT-seq method. Results indicate the presence of five different gene pools covering the regions of population’s origin, with a gene flow within and between them. A high level of developmental and chemical variabilities among the wild-growing populations was noticed, however without a clear relation to the region of the origin. The mass of underground organs ranged from 107.4 to 403.6 g FW × plant−1 with the content of sesquiterpenic acids at the level of 0.004–0.094\%. Population no 18 was distinguished by the highest content of sesquiterpenic acids and the relatively high mass of underground organs, followed by the admixture of the gene pool, typical for the ‘Lubelski’ landrace. Unlike the ‘Lubelski’ landrace, the wild-growing populations were characterized by a high amount of an essential oils (3.90 to 10.04 mL/kg), which may be promising from the perspective of their potential use. In turn, the sowing value of the seeds obtained from the populations, expressed as the germinability, was rather low (25.25–62.25\%).
3. Badalzadeh, Afsaneh and Shahraki, Abdolrazagh Danesh and Beheshti, Sediqueh, Effect of Osmopriming on Germination Characteristic of Valeriana Officinalis L. Seed under Drought Stress, 2017. Abstract
   In order to study on effect of osmopriming on seed germination characteristic of Valeriana officinalis L. under drought stress, a factorial experiment in completely randomized design carried out with four replications and 2 treatments at the Research Laboratory of Shahrekord University, 2013. Four levels of drought stress (0, -2, -4, -6 bar) as main factor and four levels of priming (0, -4, -8, -12 bar) as secondary factor were considered. The results indicated that osmopriming, drought stress and their interaction had significant effect on germination percent, germination rate, mean germination time, rootlet length, and shootlet length. The osmopriming had an effect on increased germination percent, germination rate, and mean germination time. Meanwhile, the highest levels for the mentioned traits were obtained with treatment of -8 bar. Also, the drought stress made all germination traits to be decreased. And the highest levels were obtained with control treatment. Overall, regarding our research results, to achieve the highest levels for germination components in similar condition, treatment level of osmopriming as -8 bar is recommended with control level of drought.
4. Filipovi, Vladimir, Innovative Approach in the Production of Valerian, pp. 593--611, 2020. url: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Vladimir-Filipovic-4/publication/340593800_Innovative_approach_in_the_production_of_valerian_Valeriana_officinalis_L_using_organic_production_methods/links/5e9343c892851c2f529bd8f4/Innovative-approach-in-the-production-of-valerian-Valeriana-officinalis-L-using-organic-production-methods.pdf#page=608. Abstract
   Valerian (Valeriana officinalis L.) has been used as a medicinal plant since ancient times, being extremely important for traditional and official medicine. It is grown as an annual culture. For medicinal purposes, dry root with rhizome (Valerianae radix et rhizoma) is used to extract the essential oil (Valerianae aetheroleum). In official medicine, it is most commonly used as a mild sedative for the treatment of the symptoms of anxiety, stress, insomnia and during menopause. Due to its positive characteristics, most of it is grown in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Eastern Europe, Japan and the USA. As the requirements for obtaining high quality raw material are becoming increasingly stricter year by year, the manufacturers in the above listed countries have started to use production methods that meet the required standards when it comes to cultivating this plant species. One of these is the organic production set of methods prescribed by our Organic Production Act and its accompanying regulations. The paper presents the authors’ knowledge regarding the possibility of using certain methods suitable for the production of valerian, its uses and the cost sheet that shows the investments made during its cultivation.
5. {Heydari-Rahni}, Mehdi and Nasri, Mohammad and Filizadeh, Yousef and Kasraie, Pourang, Effects of Chemical and Biofertilizers on Yield and Production Factors of Valerian (Valeriana Officinalis L.), Journal of Medicinal plants and By-product, December 2021. doi: 10.22092/jmpb.2021.355006.1370. Abstract
   A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of bio and chemical fertilizers on yield and production factors of valerian (Valeriana officinalis L.) at the Homad-Absard Agricultural Complex in Damavand city, Tehran Province, Iran, through a factorial experiment based on a randomized complete blocks design with 3 replications during 2017 to 2020. Experimental factors consist Nitroxin and Phosphate Barvar2 biofertilizers each with 2 levels of inoculation and control, and also the urea (46\% N) chemical fertilizer in 5 levels (0, 30, 60, 90 and 150 kg ha-1). Measured parameters were root diameter (mm), root length (cm), leaf width (cm) and leaf length (cm) root dry weight (kg ha-1), shoot dry weight (kg ha-1), valernic acid content (\%) and valernic acid yield (g ha-1). Results showed that the biofertilizers had significant effect (p≤0.01) on the all quantity and quality parameters studied. Unlike the urea chemical fertilizer at all levels which had a negative effect on the yield and amount of valernic acid (\%), biofertilizers increased it. Maximum and minimum amount of valernic acid (\%) were measured in control (0.465\%) and 150 kg ha-1 urea (0.215\%) respectively. The highest and lowest root dry weight were obtained in interaction of Nitroxin+Phosphate barvar2 + 150 kg urea (665 kg ha-1) and control (221 kg ha-1) respectively. Results of this experiment showed that biofertilizers with positive effects on experimental parameters are able to replace the chemical fertilizers.
6. Kwiatkowski, C., Evaluation of Yield Quality and Weed Infestation of Common Valerian (Valeriana Officinalis L.) in Dependence on Weed Control Method and Forecrop, Acta Agrobotanica, vol. 63, no. 2, 2010. doi: 10.5586/aa.2010.046.
7. Muntean, S. and Muntean, L. and Duda, M. M. and Vârban, D. I., The Influence of the Nutritional Space upon the Raw Material and Volatile Oil Yields in Valeriana Officinalis L., under the Ecological Conditions of Cluj-Napoca, Romania, Planta Medica, vol. 75, no. 9, pp. PB26, July 2009. doi: 10.1055/s-0029-1234438. Abstract
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8. Tabatabaei, Seyed Jalal, Effects of Cultivation Systems on the Growth, and Essential Oil Content and Composition of Valerian, Journal of Herbs, Spices \& Medicinal Plants, vol. 14, no. 1-2, pp. 54--67, September 2008. doi: 10.1080/10496470802341219. Abstract
   The growth and essential oil production of valerian (Valeriana officinalis L. var. common) growing in aeroponic, floating, growing media (a perlite and vermiculite mix), and soil systems were accessed by measuring biomass production and essential oil content and composition. The highest fresh weight of both leaves (802 g plant−1) and roots (364.5 g plant-1) was obtained in the floating media system. No significant difference in leaf area between the floating and growing media systems was observed, but comparative leaf area was reduced considerably in the aeroponics and soil systems. Both photosynthesis and stomatal conductance were increased in the floating and growing media systems, as compared with the aeroponics and soil systems, along with the concentration of essential oil. The major constituents of essential oil were bornyl acetate, valerenal, comphene, trans-caryophyllene, cis-ocimen, α-fenchen, and δ-elemene, although the relative proportion of each constituent varied with treatment. The concentration of bornyl acetate was highest (32.1\% of total oil) in the floating system, some 56.5\% higher than the concentration the soil. Growing valerian plants in a soil system induced the production of valerenal, and this constituent was higher in the soil systems than in the other growth systems. The results suggest that under a controlled environment, both floating and growing media systems could be promising approaches for obtaining higher root yields and oil productions in valerian.
9. Czabajska, W. and Jaruzelski, M. and Ubysz, D., New Methods in the Cultivation of Valeriana Officinalis, Planta Medica, vol. 30, no. 5, pp. 9--13, August 1976. doi: 10.1055/s-0028-1097685. Abstract
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10. Penzkofer, Michael and Seefelder, Stefan and Heuberger, Heidi, Estimation of Outcrossing Rates Using Genomic Marker and Determination of Seed Quality Parameters in Valeriana Officinalis L. s.l. under Field Conditions, Euphytica, vol. 214, no. 5, pp. 81, April 2018. doi: 10.1007/s10681-018-2164-9. Abstract
    Knowledge of the biological properties of pollination and fertilization are essential for breeding and the development of breeding concepts. In this investigation, panmictically cross-pollinated seeds of two selected combining partners of valerian (Valeriana officinalis L.) were produced and in the progeny, the outcrossing rates (OCR) were determined by using amplified fragment length polymorphism analysis (AFLP). The previous assumption that Valeriana officinalis L. shows a predominantly high outcrossing rate (OCR) was confirmed. The OCR ranged from 76.5 to 97.7\%. Several mother plants showed an OCR of 100\% in their progeny. Partially involved heterozygous DNA-fragments could have led to undetected outcrossings and to a lower OCR. The preferred outcrossing direction and the individual seed amount of the mother plants may influence the performance of a seed mixture, generated by both partners as mother plants.