Some aspects of morphobiology, conservation of resource potential, crop cultivation and harvesting of raw materials of promising Ferula species

Background: The purpose of this work was to increase scientific information against the background of increasing anthropogenic pressure on nature, which causes irreparable damage to the flora, especially the most sought-after raw materials (especially resins). An improvement of the situation would require cultivating wild species and establishing new plantations that combine the most effective method of cultivating and producing raw material (resins) from Ferula tadshikorum Pimenov and Ferula foetida (Bunge) Regel, in Uzbekistan. Methods: In the present note we reviewed the existing literature for Uzbekistan and the surrounding areas to compile guidelines for the production of Ferula. Results: In total, 5 different fractions of Ferula resin can be obtained, differing from each other in quality and organoleptic properties, which affects the grade and cost of the final product. The raw materials of both species of Ferula are marketed under the common commercial name "assafetida resin. After the collection of raw materials, the roots are again covered with soil. However, according to our observations, after such a long harvest and many cuts applied, the restoration of plants does not occur, the plants die. Therefore, we recommend stop collecting after receiving the Khalva-donak fraction, because this will result in better and more expensive raw materials for the market, and at the same time, will help to preserve and restore plants for subsequent years of harvesting. Conslusion: When harvesting raw materials from underground parts of two species of Ferula, it is of paramount importance to leave a mandatory 20-25% of plants intact to produce seed material. Being monocarpics, both species produce seeds only once during their ontogenesis. The obtained seed material helps to maintain the population and will also serve for further expansion of plantations.


Background
Modern approaches to environmental protection should be based on the rational use of natural resources. An analysis of the dynamics of anthropogenic effects on the natural environment shows that the "prohibitive" approach is both ineffective and inhumane and cannot solve current and everyday environmental problems. The relationship between human activities and conservation policies should be built on the results of systematic scientific research on the state of biodiversity. Biological resources, including plants, and medicinal plants in particular, are an essential part of Uzbekistan's natural wealth. To determine the current conservation status of species, and to improve their protection and sustainable use, it is necessary to obtain comprehensive information on species distribution, number of individuals, and the impact of negative factors on their populations. In such programs, the use of standardized research methods is very relevant, to not only capture changes in population dynamics, but also to identify the causes and predict the direction and nature of their further transformation. In addition, this approach assesses the general state of the biota, and the natural state of the populations of medicinal plants, including aspects of seasonal nature, representative species composition and those changes that are directly related to anthropogenic effects on the state of populations.
Plant resources are an indispensable source of secondary metabolites which are responsible for possible curative and preventive properties. Useful substances are e.g., resins -a mixture of various high-molecular compounds formed in plants. Despite the long use of resinous species of the genus Ferula Tour. ex L., little is known about their cnservation status, especially given that natural populations alone cannot guarantee the supply of sufficient raw materials. On the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan grow about 60 species of the genus Ferula, many of which have medicinal properties, and are also a source of valuable plant raw materials for the pharmaceutical industry both in our country, and abroad (Flora Uzbekistana 1959). The economic value of these species is reflected in a wide range of uses, including medicinal, food and fodder. In connection with the above, the study of medicinal plants of the local flora and their further sustainable use, including the conservation of natural populations is the most pressing requirement today. The purpose of this work was to increase the scientific information against the background of increasing anthropogenic pressure on nature, which causes irreparable damage to the flora, especially the most sought-after raw materials (especially resins). An improvement of the situation would require cultivating natural species and establishing new plantations that combine the most effective method of cultivating and producing raw materials (resins) from Ferula tadshikorum Pimenov and Ferula foetida (Bunge) Regel, in Uzbekistan.
In history, in his medical practice, Abu Ali ibn Sina used Ferula to treat skin diseases (vitiligo), tuberculosis, joint pains, against parasites, inflammation of the stomach, intestines and as a means of cleansing the body from salts and food residues harmful to the body (Abu Ali ibn Sina 1954).
The use of F. tadshikorum in folk medicine has also a centuries-old history. Since ancient times, the species has been used as an analgesic agent for arthritis and joint pain. Pharmacological studies have shown that the plant exhibits expectorant and anticonvulsant properties in exudative diathesis, pulmonary tuberculosis, otitis, lymphadenitis. Some studies have shown an effective effect of the plant in malignant tumors and syphilis∫, for which the leaves of the plant are mixed with acidic milk (https://planta-medica.uz/ferula-tadshikorum-pimenovferula-tadzhikov/).
The communities of Central Asia use the resin of both species of Ferula as a remedy for nervous and viral diseases of the sexual system. The resin is also used as a galenic drug to alleviate symptoms such as flatulence and gut lethargy, and the species is used for the same purpose in homeopathy. In folk medicine in many countries of the east (e.g., India, Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan), Ferula gum-resins are used in food, to strengthen the body, get rid of pain, with ulcers of the stomach and intestine. Young leaves and generative organs also serve as medicinal raw materials (https://planta-medica.uz/ferula-foetida-bunge-regel-ferula-vonyuchaya).
In veterinary practice, a porridge obtained from roots, prepared with boiling water, is used as a wound healing agent in skin diseases of domestic animals. The population also eats young stems in spring in the form of salads and as a filling of green dolma. Leaves in dry form are used to feed cattle (https://planta-medica.uz/ferulatadshikorum-pimenov-ferula-tadzhikov/).
In recent decades, the collection of resin of wild Ferula species growing in the southern regions of the Republic of Uzbekistan, in particular the Kashkadarya and Surkhandarya regions, has been especially popular, and become an entrepreneurial activity. Ferula tadshikorum has been the most exploited species leading to its inclusion in the 5th edition of the Red Book of the Republic of Uzbekistan, with the status 3 (2Krasnayua kniga Respubliki Uzbekistan. 2019).
Because the natural reserves of both species are practically exhausted, resource specialists of the Institute of Botany of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and by entrepreneurs already suggested in 2015-2016 that plantations should be established within the ranges of their distribution. Following this advice, industrial plantations of Ferula tadshikorum were created in the Kashkadarya and Surkhandarya regions, and plantations of Ferula foetida -in the desert zone of Jizzakh and Navoi regions of Uzbekistan.
Ferula foetida -in the desert zone of Jizzakh and Navoi regions of Uzbekistan.

Material and Methods
In the present note we reviewed the existing literature for Uzbekistan and the surrounding areas to compile guidelines for the production of  To obtain full or completed seeds, it is recommended to collect complete umbels from the central umbel and side axes of the first order. In addition, in a small amount, it is possible to collect high-quality seeds from the side axes of the second order. After collecting the seed material, it is necessary to sort the seeds, separating damaged ones and. Seeds are 1.9-2.7 cm long and 0.9-1.2 cm wide.
When describing Ferula tadshikorum as a new species and identifying features that distinguish it from Ferula foetidissima Regel et Schmalh. and F. conocaula Korovin, M.G. Pimenov used the structure of their mericarps (Khojimatov & Khamraeva 2018;Khojimatov et al. 2019).) We also further investigated the structure of the pericarp of the fetus and identified several species-specific features that will serve to accurately determine the species affiliation (Khojimatov & Khamraeva 2018;Khojimatov et al. 2019).

Sowing technology of Ferula tadshikorum
To create large-scale plantations, based on the experience of growing the species in the Tashkent Botanical Garden (Khamraeva et al. , 2021, we recommend using standard agricultural care -two-fold watering and weeding in the first growing season, and then, if possible, once in the second and third growing years. Special agricultural measures, for example the use of mineral fertilizers should be avoided, but it is desirable to use agricultural equipment for plowing the soil, improving aeration as shown by Khalkuzieva & Rakhmonkulov (2020) in the plantations created in the Arnasai district of the Jizzak region. It should also be borne in mind that the admission of farm animals and the use of these lands for pasture at certain times are not desirable. It is desirable to sow plant material in areas of natural phytocenoses of Ferula tadshikorum or in places with similar ecological-cenotic factors, such as soil cover, height above sea level, exposition, etc.
The sowing of seeds in natural phytocenoses of F. tadshikorum should be carried out in the autumn-winter period, from early November to the first decade of December (Figure 3), because spring comes much earlier in these southern regions of the Republic. This is necessary so that the seeds can undergo natural stratification which needs 80-90 days. F. tadshikorum seeds are covered with a thin pericarp, which during autumn-winter precipitation is impregnated with moisture which induces the processes that precede germination. According to our data, under Tashkent conditions, once air temperature reached + 5 °C , the seedlings, depending on the timing of sowing, begin to appear at the end of the first decade of February or at the end of February and the beginning of March . According to Rakhmonov (2017), the optimal rate of sowing per hectare is 5-6 kg/ha of seeds (with a norm of 16-17 per 1m 2 ) or according to Khalkuzieva & Rakhmonkulov (2020) 8-10 kg/ha. According to the literature (Rakhmonov 2017), survival is stabilized because in these areas the root system, even on rocky slopes, penetrates quite deeply, which provides favorable environmental conditions for plant conservation on the plantations created for the third-fourth growing season. According to the results of our observations in the plantations created by farmers in the Kashkadarya and Surkhandarya regions plants of 5-6 years of vegetation have a strong root system, which favorably contributes to the further stable preservation of individuals in the cultivated areas. Therefore, to preserve and restore populations in the territory of southern Uzbekistan to allow the sustainable use of F. tadshikorum, it is recommended to use the following options for sowing seeds in conditions of natural growth with different ecological characteristics: 1 -with seeding in the soil to a depth of 2-3 cm in areas with different grass cover. 2 -with seeding in the soil to a depth of 1.0-2 cm on eroded crushed and rocky slopes.
To date, the area of plantations of both species in Uzbekistan, can be estimated at about 4000 ha. Ferula foetida St. Lag. (Figure 3). Habitats and distribution. Ferula foetida grows in sandy deserts, adyr and foothill plains, in the Jizzak, Navoi and Bukhara regions and the Republic of Karakalpakstan (Flora Uzbekistana 1959 ).
F. foetida has extensive drug potential and nutritional use. Being a perennial monocarp (can reach the age of up to 26 years), the plant is able to produce resin only after reaching the virginial age state, i.e. from 7-9 years old, when roots become well developed, i.e. the formation of a massive turnip shaped-thickened root, in which a perennial supply of substances creates prerequisites for the formation of a stem 3 meters high. After having formed a powerful peduncle, the plant dies, i.e. the ontogenesis cycle ends with fruiting. developed a protective function in the form of a specific metabolism -the formation of resins, localized mainly in the roots and seeds, although secretory cells containing them are dispersed throughout organs of the plant. Resins are insoluble in water, in contrast to gums (water-soluble polysaccharides). The combination of both (gumresin) increases the resistance to xeromorphic conditions -high temperatures and moisture deficiency and, at the same time, forms a unique medical source.

Resin production process
From wild plant, resin can be harvested from Ferula tadshikorum starting with an age of 10-13 years, and from F. foetida starting with plants 7-9 years old, when the plants enter the virginal phase of development. In plantations the preparation of resin from the roots of plants can begin after 6 years of vegetative growth, when the plant is sufficiently strong and yields a commercial product. The collection process is identical for both species.
The process of collecting gum begins with digging and opening the root pin of the plant (Figure 4), then, with a special sharp knife, a small incision is made on the side along the line of the remains of the petioles of last year's rosette leaves (in the basal part of the root). Next, the plant is covered with cardboard ( Figure 5), this is necessary for steaming and better release of gum resin, and also protects the resin from wind and mechanical contaminants (dust, plant residues, etc.).
The collected adhesive liquid mass with a pronounced garlic smell is concentrated in the form of resinous products (peculiar waxy globules), hardens in the air after collecting for about 2 days. These then are dried on cardboard paper, in well-ventilated rooms. On average, about 5-7 grams of gum are isolated from one root section ( Figures  6-7). After the release of gum resin is stopped, the next incision is made nearby or slightly lower. Thus, in the process of producing gum resin, the number of incisions can reach 20 units, the total amount of the obtained raw material can range from 70 to 120 grams. The collection of raw materials begins after drying of the aboveground parts of the plant and continues from May to October.
In total, 5 different fractions are obtained, differing from each other in quality and organoleptic properties, which affects the grade and cost of the final product. The raw materials of both species of Ferula are marketed under the common commercial name "assafetida resin. However, vernacular names vary and are given in table 1. The fractions, their names and characteristics are shown in Table 1.  After the collection of raw materials, the roots are again covered with soil. However, according to our observations, after such a long harvest and many cuts applied, the restoration of plants does not occur, the plants die. Therefore, we recommend stop collecting after receiving the Khalva-donak fraction, because this will result in better and more expensive raw materials for the market, and at the same time, will help to preserve and restore plants for subsequent years of harvesting.

Discussion
When harvesting raw materials from underground parts of two species of Ferula, it is of paramount importance to leave a mandatory 20-25% of plants intact to produce seed material. Being monocarpic, both species produce seeds only once during their ontogenesis. The obtained seed material helps to maintain the population and will serve for further expansion of artificial planting. As a result, the sustainable exploitation of plantations will allow to relieve the pressure on the natural populations of these species, which will serve their complete restoration in nature, In addition, it will be possible to obtain raw materials, without incurring extra costs for obtaining quotas, etc., and allow farms and other entities to earn consistently high income over a long period of time.