Diversification of Multipurpose Plant, Perilla Frutescens

The traditional Asian crop, Perilla frutescens has multiple uses. There are specialized cultivars for seed oil and for medicinal use, as well as wild/weedy forms growing in various habitats. Based on selective characteristics of leaf odor, anthocyanin pigmentation, seed hardness and seed diameter, the diversity of this species was investigated to clarify the intraspecific differentiation. P. frutescens was divided into five groups by the combination of three qualitative characteristics: leaf odor, anthocyanin pigmentation and seed hardness. Most of the plants cultivated for oil belonged to one group, while medicinal plants belonged to three other groups. Wild/weedy forms were in the last group. The five groups could not be distinguished by seed diameter. Though the plants cultivated for oil tended to have larger seeds than the medicinal and wild/weedy plants, there was no boundary either between the two crops, or among various phenotypes of P. frutescens.