Chamomile Tea Research Paper

The contamination caused by heavy metals present in soil causes development of serious problems in agriculture. Heavy metals including cadmium, nickel, lead, and zinc are the major metals that contaminate the environment. The toxic effects of heavy metals on plants are due to production of different types of reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as superoxide, hydrogen peroxide, and hydroxyl radical. These different forms of ROS usually disrupt different cellular processes by developing membrane damages (Pereira et al., 2002). Nickel is one of the natural elements that is found in different forms in the environment, soil, air, water, along with the body of plants and animals. Soil and its sediments are the first source of nickel. Studies have

Chamomile flowers and the compounds extracted from them have various uses in medicine and cosmetics. Antiseizure, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial effects of chamomile are due to existence of compounds present in its volatile and nonvolatile substances. One of the most important forms of usage of chamomile is tea. Chamomile tea is used for treating parasitic infections, washing skin and wounds, and strengthening hair. The active ingredients of chamomile flowers are used for preparing anti-swelling medications, drugs for treating stomachache, flatulence, and skin wounds (DerMaderosian, 2001). Plant tissue culture techniques have changed into a powerful tool in plant biology. This method in medicinal plants has moved towards production of special secondary metabolites, gene transference, and protecting germplasm with micropropagation development of plant (Rout et al., 2000). Undoubtedly, application of tissue culture techniques in this medicinal plant can be an effective step for recovering and protecting it, developing of sumaclonal variation, industrial production, production of valuable secondary metabolites, and enhancement of active ingredients through cellular cultivation. Considering the toxicity caused by high concentrations of nickel and its level of absorption by plants that have been grown under the conditions of existence of different concentration of nickel and as Aurea chamomile is considered a medicinal plant, but so far no report has been presented about its tissue culture and considering the dire need of domestic industries to chamomile herb as the raw material of drug production and with regard to favorable conditions of cultivation of chamomile in Iran, this research was investigated the tolerance of two chamomile species, German and Aurea to different concentrations of