Effects of Light-Temperature Regimes on Plant Growth and Essential Oil Yield of Selected Aromatic Plants

✍ Scribed by Fahlén, Anders; Welander, Margareta; Wennersten, Ronald

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 362 KB
• Volume: 73
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-5142
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0010(199701)73:1<111::aid-jsfa686>3.0.co;2-2

✦ Synopsis

The e †ects of di †erent lightÈtemperature conditions on leaf growth and essential oil yield and oil composition of Mentha ] piperita L, M spicata L, M longifolia L, M rubra L and Chamomilla recutita (L) Rausch were studied in a biotron experiment. A majority of the Mentha L species exposed to a 21È3 h photoperiod, simulating conditions typical of the July environment in northern Sweden, produced signiÐcantly higher concentrations of menthol than treatments with shorter photoperiods. Night temperatures had little e †ects on the menthol levels under the 21 h photoperiod regime. The total yields of menthol and menthone in the Mentha L species were signiÐcantly higher in the third to Ðfth leaf pairs compared to the topmost leaf pair position. The di †erent environmental treatments had no evident e †ects on leaf growth (measurements based on the Ðve topmost leaf pairs). The combination of 21È3 h photoperiod and 25È 18¡C thermoperiod resulted in the highest levels of a-bisabolol in C recutita (L) Rausch. Also, bud or Ñower formation was only induced in treatments with photoperiods P17 h.