Echinacea pallida (Nutt.) Nutt. - Yield and echinacoside content

Preparations from Echinacea angustifolia DC, E. pallida (Nutt.) Nutt. and E . purpurea (L.) Moench are frequently used due to their immunomodulating ef fect. Since 1993 cultivation trials with E. pallida (Nutt.) Nutt. have been and a re still being made near Berlin. Testing characters are yield of roots, con tent of echinacoside, extract, essential oil. The variability of the root yield of individual plants is very high (s% = 4 4). With plot sizes of 15 m(2) with 100 to 200 plants a testing accuracy of s% = 10 to 20 is achieved. With a field planted in spring average yields of individual plants of 50 to 60 grams are achieved in autumn of the first trial year. In the second yea r the root mass is triplicating. A cultivation of E. pallida in furrows makes the root harvest easier and re sult in significantly higher yields. Higher planting densities decrease the individual plant yield but result in higher total yields. Cutting the plan t prevents flowering but has a favourable effect on the root yield. The dif ferent measures of cultivation do not influence the echinacoside and extrac t content.