PIGMENT CONTENT IN THE LEAVES AND FLOWERS OF DAYLILIES (HEMEROCALLIDACEAE)

The comparative results of the content of photosynthetic pigments (carotenoids, chlorophylls a and b) in the above-ground organs of the taxa Hemerocallis citrina, H. minor, H. fulva, and H. middendorffii, cultivated in the forest-steppe zone of the Priobye region (Novosibirsk Oblast) in 2019–2021, are analyzed for the first time in this paper. The content of chlorophylls and carotenoids in the leaves and flowers of plants during the period of active growth and mass flowering is characterized by low variability and species specificity. The highest levels of carotenoids in flowers were observed in 2019 in H. middendorffii (82.5 mg%), in 2020 in H. fulva (129.5 mg%), and in 2021 in H. citrina (17.2 mg%). It was found that in 2019–2020, the concentration of carotenoids in flowers was 3.5–4.6 times higher than in leaves, and in 2021, it was 1.2–1.5 times higher. The highest values of chlorophyll a and b were observed in the flowers of H. fulva (21.9–33.1 mg%) and in the leaves of H. middendorffii (20.0–37.6 mg%). High indicators of the state of introduced plants in terms of the chlorophyll a/b ratio were recorded in flowers of H. middendorffii (1.9) and in leaves of H. minor, H. citrina (2.6–3.0), by the sum (a+b)/carotenoids H. fulva (2.2–5.3). The results showed the high activity of the photosynthetic apparatus of plants of cultivated species of Hemerocallis, successful adaptation to ex situ conditions and the possibility of using raw materials during the period of mass flowering for practical use.