仙草(Mesona procumbens Hemsl.)「桃園一號」,原品系代號TYY7903,於1990年自新竹縣關西鎮之野生族群中所選出,歷經品系比較試驗、區域試驗、各種栽培技術改進試驗與品質分析等,確定其各項農藝及品質特性,經審查通過而命名。本品種屬匍匐性,株長可達145.9 cm,株高在28 cm以下,嫩莖為綠色,成熟時日照部份轉為紫紅色。葉為橢圓形,葉綠缺刻深,葉長平均為6.30 cm,葉寬平均為3.44 cm,單葉葉面積為13.01 cm^2。區域試驗的結果:葉部之1.0 °Brix萃取液之凝膠強度在五個地區均表現最高,平均值在34.2-67.4 g/cm^2之間;乾株產量在桃園、新竹及苗栗地區栽培之產量較高,平均產量在5,900-7,912 kg/ha之間。乙醇抽出物在10 mg/ml的濃度下具有100%的清除超氧陰離子自由基作用,而水的抽出物之清除效果達77.78%。
The new Mesona cultivar ”Taoyuan 1” was originated from the clone of TYY7903 which was selected from the Guanshi's wild group. A series of tests that included yield tests, regional trial, test of cultural improvement and analysis of antioxygeon activity were conducted from 1991 to 1999. The new cultivar was registered and released for commercial production in 2000 because of its' superior performance with high yield and high gel strength. The traits of Taoyuan 1 are summarized as follow:1. The plant of Taoyuan 1 is a runner type as it has long creeping stem and low plant height. The color of seedlings is green and then it turned to purple-red at maturity.2. The leaf of Taoyuan 1 is elliptical with 6.30 cm in length and 3.44 cm in width, and average leaf area of per piece is 13.01 cm^2.3. Taoyuan 1 showed the highest quality in gel strength (34.2-67.4 g/cm^2) among areas in the regional trials, and it produced very high yield of dry plant (5,900-7,634 kg/ha) in the area of Taoyuan, Hsinchu and Miaoli.4. Ethanol-extract and water-extract at 10 mg/ml of Taoyuan 1 showed scavenging activity on superoxide anions at 100 % and 77.08 %, respectively.