FIRST CULTIVATION TRIAL OF PERILLA-FRUTESCENS L. IN EGYPT

Imported seeds of Perilla frutescens L. (cv. Aka-Shiso and Ao-Shiso) w ere propagated and cultivated in Egypt. The growth, herbal yield and v olatile oil yield were recorded. The yield of volatile oil, extracted by hydrodistillation, reached 0.17%, 0.01% and 0.16% of fresh weight o f leaves, stem and flowers, respectively. The volatile oil of the aeri al parts of each variety was analysed by capillary GC-MS. The hydrodis tillates of both varieties mainly consist of perillaldehyde, caryophyl lene oxide, limonene and caryophyllene, with perillaldehyde as the mai n constituent (32.9% and 34.2% for Aka-Shiso and Ao-Shiso, respectivel y). Some significant differences in the oil constituents were observed , where caryophyllene oxide reached 23.3% in Ao-Shiso but accounted fo r only 6.0% in Aka-Shiso. The antimicrobial activity for both oils was studied. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.