Phenotypical and biochemical characterization of three studied Perilla frutescens genotypes

Perilla genus is cultivated as commercial oilseed crop. It has also been introduced to Europe, Russia and USA as an oilseed crop (Baccheti et al. 2014). Perilla plant contains a number of important phytochemicals such as rosmarinic acid, luteolin, chrysocoriol, quercitin (Akriti Dhyani et al. 2019). Breeding by repeated individual selection and spreading for field production and also phenotypical characterization by biometric measurements and biochemical identification by laboratory analyses. The three varieties had distinct phenotypic characteristics: V1 with green leaves, V2 with bicolour leaves and V3 with red leaves. The chemical composition demonstrates the presence of useful compounds for human nutrition such as antioxidants (the highest value being 17,1 trolox equivalents), polyphenols (the highest percentage registered was 7,1), minerals, essential oils, B-carotene, amino acids (the highest value expressed in glutamic acid was 1,5) with impressive antioxidant activity. The varieties are also melliferous. The three varieties have strong characteristics of distinctiveness and a rich chemical composition.