We are evaluating a number of medicinal and aromatic crops at four locations in Mississippi: at the MAFES research stations in Beaumont, Crystal Springs, Stoneville, and Verona, please see map of Mississippi with the testing locations. In the 2006 cropping season we evaluated 46 MACs, and are currently evaluating an additional 30 at these locations. Twenty additional MACs are being evaluated in Verona. Various cultivars of some crops are being compared; for example forty accessions of basil (Ocimum sp.) are being cultivated in Verona (picture below). For selected crops, various production methods are being compared in order to increase growth and the production of secondary metabolites. In addition to yield, the chemical composition of the crops are being qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed (essential oils, alkaloids, etc.) to evaluate the effect of location and agricultural practices on product quality.

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