Comparative Study of Biochemical Composition of Paulownia tomentosa (Thunb.) Steud. Genotypes

Abstract

The review of previous studies on Paulownia spp. showed that these plants are valuable raw materials with polyfunctional use among which are medicinal, forage, energetic, etc. This study demonstrated the accumulation of selected biochemical components in the different parts of Paulownia tomentosa (Thunb.) Steud. genotypes plants by the end of vegetation collected from experimental collections of M. M. Gryshko National Botanical Garden of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. The accumulation of selected nutrients in the leaves was the following: a dry matter of 24.09–29.44%, lipid content of 5.01–8.58%, total sugar content of 5.51–9.82%, mono sugar content of 1.73–6.17%, ash content of 1.09–8.96%, phosphorus content of 0.47–1.60%, calcium content of 1.41–3.43%, and heating value of raw material of 4,083.09–4,353.11 Kcal.kg^-1. In the branches of investigated genotypes on average accumulated 37.5–46.0% of dry matter, 3.69–6.52% of lipids, 6.66–19.96% of total sugar content, 1.95–5.75% of mono sugar content, 1.43–2.93% of ash content, 0.38–0.89% of phosphorus content, 0.515–1.61% of calcium content, and 3,911.45–4,290.78 Kcal.kg^-1of heating value. The trunks had 40.09–51.5% of dry matter, 2.0–6.14% of lipids, 6.44–20.48% of sugars, 1.6–3.67% of mono sugars, 1.18–2.53% of ash, 0.22–0.40% of phosphorus, 0.37–0.63% of calcium, and 4,073.45–4,525.28 Kcal.kg^-1 of heating value. A very strong correlation was found between sugars and mono sugars content in the leaves (r = 0.859), lipids and phosphorus (r = 0.864) in the branches, heating value, and calcium (r = 0.820) in the trunks. Due to the increasing interest in the growth and use of P. tomentosa during the last time, this study can be useful for further breeding work with this species as biofuel, forage, and medicinal plants.