Influence of growing conditions on morphological and chemical properties and biological effects of extracts of Arnica montana L

Arnica (Arnica montana L., Asteraceae) is a perennial mountain plant whose flower heads (Arnicae flos) are mainly used for topical treatment of bruises and sprains in phytopharmaceutical preparations such as ointments, creams and gels. Until few years ago, the world market demand for this raw material was almost exclusively covered from the spontaneous resources, but plant populations are, due to overcollecting, significantly degraded, what caused prohibition of its collection from the wild in most of European countries. Since the demand for this raw material on the market is constant rise, cultivation arnica is imposed as the only sustainable solution to meet the needs of the pharmaceutical industry. Since the A. montana plant specie is not native to the region of Serbia, although it occurs spontaneously in some mountain areas of neighboring countries and the Balkans in general, the aim of this study was to find a suitable technology solution of field cultivation based on the examination of induced various ecological factor effects. In this research, beside observations connected with flower heads, as the main drug, underground parts of arnica: rhizome and roots, were also studied as side products. The first phase of the experimental work included a three-year three-factorial field experiment in different modes of production, where as the factors examined: time of plantation establishment (spring and autumn planting), fertilization (manure and NPK) and methods of propagation (from seed and clonal propagation - division of the tuft). In the second phase of the experiment, characterization of the raw material was carried out in the terms of its rapid identification, qualitative evaluations based on the content of secondary metabolites and testing of biological effects of extracts obtained. Tests were performed on the field experiment conducted in 2008 at locality of Kaludjerske Bare (1008 m) on mountain Tara, in area of Nursery production department of the National Park "Tara". Since arnica its first vegetation remains in the rosette phenophase, all measurements of morphological parameters, yields and chemical characterizations of raw materials was carried out in 2009 and 2010 year. Following parameters were examined at the trial: rosette diameter, height of flower shoots, number of flower shoots, number of flower heads per plant, flower head diameter and number of secondary rosettes. Yields were observed for the flower heads, rhizomes, roots and essential