Basic fertilization and nitrogen top-dressing of basil was studied in 1984 and 1985 at the Department of Horticulture, University of Helsinki. The total N doses applied were 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8, 1.2 and 1.6 kg N/100 m2. In 1984 the plants were of a mixture of different fenotypes and two of those formed 85 % of the crop-stand. In 1985 the variety grown was ’Budakalasz’. The optimum basic fertilization proved to be a compound fertilizer at the rate (NPK) of 0.4—0.16—0.68 kg/100 m2. The content of volatile oils in dried herb ranged from 0.32 to 1.46 %. The total oil content was not significantly affected by fertilization except in 1984 when the fertilization decreased the oil content in the other of those two major fenotypes

S. Hälvä

Agricultural and Food Science

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Maataloustieteellinen AikakauskirjaVol. 59: 25—29, 1987Studies on fertilization of dill (Anethum graveolens L.)and basil (Ocimum basilicum L.)11l Oil yield of basil affected by fertilizationHÄLYÄ, S.Dept, of Horticulture, University of Helsinki,SF-00710 Helsinki, FinlandAbstract. Basic fertilization and nitrogen top-dressing of basil was studied in 1984 and1985 at the Department of Horticulture, University of Helsinki. The total N doses applied were0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8, 1.2 and 1.6 kg N/100 m 2. In 1984 the plants were of a mixture of differentfenotypes and two of those formed 85 % of the crop-stand. In 1985 the variety grown was’Budakalasz’.The optimum basic fertilization proved to be a compound fertilizer at the rate (NPK) of0.4—0.16—0.68 kg/100 m 2. The content of volatile oils in dried herb ranged from 0.32 to1.46 %. The total oil content was not significantly affected by fertilization except in 1984 whenthe fertilization decreased the oil content in the other of those two major fenotypes.Index words; calcium nitrate, compound fertilizer, basil nitrogenIntroductionThe general aim of the studies on fertiliza-tion of herbal plants has been the,optimizingof application level in respect to both the herbyield and aroma content and composition.The results found in different studies are, tosome extent, conflicting. Pluck (1954) hasstated that increase in fertilization will firstincrease the aroma content, and after a certainoptimum level decrease that. The studies ofHornok (1980, 1983) on herb plants confirmthis. On the contrary, Nykänen (1986) hasfound that nitrogen (N) application will firstdecrease and in larger doses increase thearoma production and also change the aromacomposition. The edafic factors have beenfound to influence more the herb yield thanthe aroma, and in addition, having more ef-fect on the amount of the total aroma thanon the composition of aroma causing com-pounds (Pluck 1954).Weichan (1948) has reported that the fer-tilization has minor effect on the aroma con-tent of basil. Ruminska (1978), instead, re-ported that increasing NPK-fertilizing will in-crease both thebasil yield and the amount ofthe volatile oils. Wahab and Hornok (1981)25JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE IN FINLANDstated, according to the studies carried out inHungary, that the rates of 1.2—1.0—1.0 kgNPK/100 m 2 give the best result in respect toboth the herb yield and aroma of basil. LaterHornok (1983) found that K is of minor im-portance and the optimum dose of NPK washigher, 2.4—1.5—1.2 kg/100 m2 . N de-creased the linalool content, and K instead,increased the contents of linalool and estragol.The effects of fertilization of herbal plantshave been mostly studied in Middle Europe.Research in this field is necessary also innorthern conditions especially now that thereis a growing interest in herb production inNordic countries. A study on the effects ofdifferent levels of basic fertilization and Ntop-dressing on basil was carried out in twosuccessive years (1984—85) in Finland. The ef-fects on both the herb yield and aroma wasstudied. The detailed results on herb yield arereported separately (Hälvä and Puukka1987).greenhouse, was transplanted into the open-field after a month in spacings of 20 x 25 cen-timeters. The crops were grown using generalfarming practices and harvested at the begin-ning of flowering (Hälvä and Puukka).The amount and composition of aromacompounds in dried herb were analysed by themethod of head space gas chromatography asdescribed by Hiltunen et ai. (1985). In 1984the fresh samples were also determinated byhigh resolution gas chromatographic massspectrometry (Nykänen 1986). The results onherb yields and nitrate concentrations (1984)are published separately by Hälvä and Puuk-ka (1987).The field trials were set up according to themethod of completely randomized blocks withfour replications and plots of 3 m 2. The datawas studied by analyses of variance and re-gression. The means were separated by Tu-key’s HSD or Student-Newman-Keuls’s mul-tiple range tests (Steel and Torrie 1980).Materials and methodsThe effect of fertilizing on the herb yieldof basil was studied during 1984 and 1985 atthe Department of Horticulture, in the Uni-versity of Helsinki. Five treatments includingthe unfertilized control were applied in 1984.The soil, humous fine sand, was fertilized by4 kg/100 m 2 compound fertilizer (NPK10—4—17) before planting basil. The nitrogentop-dressing by calcium nitrate (NO3 -N 16,Ca 20) was broadcast two weeks later, exceptthe largest dose which was split in two appli-cations. The first one was applied two weeksafter planting and the second one after twomore weeks. The total nitrogen rates were A:0, C: 0.4, D: 0.8, E: 1.2 and F: 1.6 kg/100m 2. In addition, in 1985 a treatment of B:0.2 kg N/100 m 2 by the compound fertilizer(10 —4—17) was applied before planting(Hälvä and Puukka 1987).In 1984 the basil seeds were of a mixtureof several chemotypes, and in 1985 the varietygrown was ’Budakalasz’. Basil, started in aResultsThe basil plants in 1984 consisted of sixclearly different fenotypes two of which wereof the majority. Those with either violetflowers and thin, light green leaves (fenotype1) or those with white flowers and thick, shinyleaves (fenotype 2) formed 85 % of the totalcrop stand and the results of these were anal-ysed separately.The contents of volatile oils ranged from0.32 to 1.46 % in 1984, and from 0.93 to1.14 % in 1985 (Fig 1). The fertilization hadsignificant (p< 0.05) effect only on the oil con-tent of fenotype 2: the total oil content in theherb decreased the more fertilized the cropwas. The response to nitrogen application ispresented in Figure 2. The oil composition wasnot affected by the fertilization.The oil content was significantly (p<0.01)higher in the herb of fenotype 1 than in feno-type 2. The highest figure was reached withthe smallest fertilization application (0.4 kgN/100 m2) and the lowest one with the26largest application (1.6 kg N/100 m 2) (Fig 1).Compounds methyl chavicol (estragol), lina-lool, /3-caryophyllene and eugenol were inhighest amounts among the 14 compoundsidentified. The oil composition of the twomajor fenotypes was clearly different. Feno-type 1 was of methyl chavicol-type, and lina-lool and eugenol were in highest amounts infenotype 2 (Table 1).In 1985 there were no significant differencesin aroma content of the variety ’Budakalasz’Table 1. The main compounds in the volatile oils of basil herb in 1984—85 according to the fertilization treatments.TRIAL/ A B C D E F F-values»compound 'abcFENOTYPE 1/1984Methyl chavicol 68.6 75.9 75.3 73.8 78.6 2.22 271.5“* 0.63j3-caryophyllene 6.6 7.2 5.1 4.9 5.2 0.48 2.0 1.22Germacrene-D 4.7 3.6 3.2 3.2 3.5 1.26 0.2 0.96Borneol 1.7 1.2 1.2 1.4 1.4 1.07 24.0*“ 0.271.8- 2.0 2.4 1.9 1.9 1.6 0.54 0.1 1.60Eugenol 0.7 0.3 0.2 0.0 0.0 3.36 63.7*“ 2.03Linalool 0.3 0.4 1.3 0.1 0.0 1.79 477.2“* 1.73FENOTYPE 2/1984Methyl chavicol 2.1 19.0 20.5 16.8 14.7(3-caryophyllene 5.0 4.1 4.0 6.0 5.3Gerraacrene-D 3.5 4.0 2.8 3.3 3.8Borneol 3.3 2.4 2.5 2.1 3.11.8- 1.9 1.8 2.1 1.3 2.5Eugenol 3.5 4.0 2.8 3.3 3.8Linalool 46.7 34.7 38.8 40.7 33.9’BUDAKALASZ’/1985Linalool 57.4 56.8 55.8 59.4 59.6 58.5 0.18Eugenol 14.6 13.6 12.5 11.6 10.9 9.1 0.55Thymol 5.8 5.8 5.9 5.1 6.4 6.9 1.20Methyl chavicol 4.1 3.4 3.8 3.9 4.8 4.6 1.31j3-caryophyllene 1.6 1.4 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.3 0.221.8- 1.2 1.2 1.1 1.3 0.8 0.9 0.687-terpinene 0.4 0.3 0.6 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.72* 1984: F(4,12) a = fertilization, F(l,15) b = fenotype, c = interaction1985: F(5,23) a = fertilizationFig. I. Volatile oil contents in basil herb affected by ni-trogen application (1984: fenotypes 1 and 2, 1985’Budakalasz’).Fig. 2. Response of the volatile oil contents (fenotype2) to the nitrogen applications (1984).27caused by basic fertilization, calcium nitratetop-dressing or nitrogen. The main compoundsin the oil were linalool and eugenol as presentedin Table 1. Two components found in tracesonly, /3-pinene (r= —0.701 + ++) andmyrsene (r = —0.532+ +), were affected bythefertilization doses applied the contentsof both of these compounds decreased withthe increase in nitrogen application. The meth-yl chavicol content slightly increased with ni-trogen fertilization (r =0.407 + ).DiscussionThe optimum fertilization application forbasil in the Finnish climate on a soil in goodnutritional condition proved to be a basic fer-tilization at the rate of 0.4—0.16—0.68 kgNPK/100 m 2 which is smaller than what hasbeen reported in southern countries. In thenorth low temperatures and a short growingseason restrict the growth of cold-sensitiveplants like basil. These plants must be firstgrown in greenhouses and later transplantedout-of-doors shortening thus the growing pe-riod in the field. Accordingly, less fertilizationis needed outdoors than in the southern con-ditions.The average volatile oil content and com-position were not considerably affected by thefertilization applied. The plants without fer-tilization had the highest amount of the vola-tile oils. Nykänen (1986) also found thehighest total oil contents in the herbs grownwithout fertilization. The comparison betweenthe results in different studies is most com-plicated because of different analysing meth-ods. In addition, the variation between thecontents of the individual samples in the abovementioned report was extremely wide, and theconclusions on the effect of fertilization re-mains indistinctive. Neither the two mainfenotypes were separated in the work of Ny-känen (1986), and the oil was thus namedlinalool-estragol while in the present studyfenotype 1 was found to be of estragol-typeand fenotype 2 of linalool-eugenol-type.The decrease in the volatile oil content(fenotype 2) by increase in fertilization con-flicts with the results reported by Ruminska(1978) and Wahab & Hornok (1981) whohave stated that increasing fertilization willalso increase the aroma. Many scientists likeGuenther (1949), Gildmeister and Hoff-mann (1961) and Jansen (1981) have reportedearlier on the differentoil composition of dif-ferent basil chemotypes. This feature stressesthe importance of plant breeding and varietytesting of herb plants. Basil with significantamount of linalool and estragol or just estra-gol are preferred by the food industry (Zolaand Garnero 1973).Acknowledgements. The author wishes to thank Lee-na Puukka and Heikki Vuorela for the technical assist-ance. The work was supported by the Academy of Fin-land and the Tiura foundation.ReferencesPluck, H. 1954. The influence of the soil on the contentof active principles in medicinal plants. J. PharmacyPharmacology 6: 153—163.Gildmeister, E. & Hoffman, F. 1961. Die ÄterischenOle, 7. 806 p. 4. Aufl. Berlin.Guenther, E. 1949. The Essential Oils, 3. 777 p. NewYork. Berlin.Hiltunen, R., Vuorela, H. & Laakso, I. 1985. Quanti-tative head space gas chromatograpy in the analysisof volatile oils in aromatic plants. Baerheim Svend-sen A. & Scheffer, J. J. (Eds). Essential oils and aro-matic plants, pp. 23—41. Dordrecht.Hornok, L. 1980. Effect of nutrition supply on yield ofdill (Anethum graveolens L) and the essential oil con-tent. Acta Hort. 96, 1: 337—342.—, 1983. Influence of nutrition on the yield and contentof active compounds in some essential oil plants. ActaHort. 132; 239—247.Halva, S. & Puukka, L. 1987. Herb yield of dill andbasil affected by fertilization. (In press).Jansen, P.C.M. 1981. Spices, condiments and medicinalplants in Ethiopia, their taxonomy and agriculturalsignificance. Agric. Res. Rep. 906: 1—326.Nykänen, I. 1986. High resolution gas chromatographic28mass spectrometric determination of the flavorcomposition of basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) cultiva-ted in Finland. Z Lebensm. Unters. Forsch. 182:205—211.Ruminska, A. 1978. Der Einfluss der Diingung auf denWirkstoffgehalt und den Ertrag von Heil- undGewiirzpflanzen. Acta Hort. 73: 143—164.Porter, N.G., Shaw, M.L., Shaw, G.J. & Ellington,P.J. 1983. Content and composition of dill herb oilin the whole plant and the different plant parts dur-ing crop development. New Zeal. J. agric. Res. 26:119—127.Singh, R.S. 1971. Influence of soil salinity on produc-tion of seeds and essential oil content of dill (Anethumgraveolens L.). Indian Oil Soap J. 36: 243—245.Singh, R., Singh, L.B. & Singh, C.P. 1971. Response ofN and P on yield and essential oil content of dill innon-saline alkali soils. Fertilizer News. 16: 48—49.Steel, R.G.D. & Torrie, J.H. 1980. Principles and pro-cedures of statistics, a biometrical approach. 633 p.New York.SELOSTUSTILLIN JA BASILIKAN LANNOITUS111 Lannoituksen vaikutus basilikanöljysatoon.Häivä, S.Helsingin yliopisto, Puutarhatieteen laitos,00710 HelsinkiBasilikan lannoitusta tutkittiin vuosina 1984 ja 1985Helsingin yliopiston puutarhatieteen laitoksella. Kokeis-sa selvitettiin peruslannoituksen (NPK 10—4—17) ja kalk-kisalpietarina annetun typpilisän (N03—N 16, Ca 20) vai-kutusta basilika satoon ja haihtuvan öljyn määrään jakoostumukseen. Vaikutukset yrttisatoon raportoidaanerikseen (Hälvä jaPuukka 1987). Kokonaistyppimäärätolivat 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8, 1.2 ja 1.6 kg N/100 m 2, Peruslan-noitteet (Puutarhan Y3), 0.2 ja 0.4 kg N/100 m 2, levi-tettiin ennen basilikan istutusta ja lisälannoitteet annet-tiin kahden viikon kuluttua, paitsi suurin erä, joka an-nettiin kahdessa osassa kahden viikon välein.Sato korjattiin juuri basilikan kukinnan alkaessa. Haih-tuva öljy analysoitiin Helsingin yliopiston farmasian lai-toksella kaasukromatografisesti head space -menetelmällä.Vuonna 1984basilikakasvusto koostui pääasiallisesti kah-desta muista selvästi poikkeavasta fenotyypistä, joidenhaihtuvan öljyn määrä oli 0.32—1.46 °7o. Toinen näistäoli pääkomponenttien mukaan estragoli-tyyppiä ja toi-nen linaloli-eugenolityyppiä. Vuonna 1985 viljelty lajikeoli ’Budakalasz’. Sen öljypitoisuus oli00.91.143 —1.14 % jakoostui etupäässä linalolista ja eugenolista.Lannoitus vaikutti merkitsevästi vain toisen fenotyy-pin öljypitoisuuteen: sen määrä väheni sitä mukaa kuinlannoitusta lisättiin. Lannoitus ei muuttanut basilikan öl-jynkoostumusta. Fenotyyppien öljypitoisuudet poikke-sivat huomattavasti toisistaan. Tästä syystä maustekas-vien lajikejalostukseen tulisi lisätä huomiota, sillä vainharvoista lajeista on olemassa lajikkeita.29

Studies on fertilization of dill (Anethum graveolens L.) and basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) lll Oil yield of basil affected by fertilization

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Studies on fertilization of dill (Anethum graveolens L.) and basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) lll Oil yield of basil affected by fertilization

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