Agriculturae Conspectus Scientificus, Vol 88, No 3 (2023)

Effect of Fertilization and Irrigation on Essential Oils Extracted from Laurel (Laurus nobilis L.) Leaves

Rodin ISSA, Muhammad KARDOUSH, Walid MANSOUR, Yahya KAMARY

Pages: 199-205

Summary


This study focuses on the effects of fertilization and irrigation on the percentage of essential oil extracted from laurel (Laurus nobilis L.) leaves. Trees in the Aleppo Ecopark were treated with three different NPK fertilizers and three different irrigation water rates for two consecutive years, while the control group was left untreated. Phosphorus and potassium fertilizers were applied at the end of January, nitrogen fertilizer at the beginning of March. Additional irrigation was applied three times a year in summer (May, July and September). The leaves of each treatment were collected, dried and the essential oil was extracted with a clavinger. In addition, the extracted oil for each treatment was analyzed by gas chromatograph equipped with mass spectrometer. Results have shown that the fertilization and irrigation processes led to an increase in the essential oil percentage that was extracted from bay leaves and affected its quality,  giving the highest percentage of oil, reaching 0.93% when treated with 1.5 kg of urea, 0.75 kg of triple superphosphate, 0.75 potassium sulphate and irrigation with 100 liters of water per tree. Fertilization and irrigation also influenced the proportions of essential oil components. Fertilization with 2 kg urea, 1 kg triple superphosphate, 1 kg potassium sulphate and irrigation with 150 litres of water for each tree gave the highest concentration of 1-8 cineole compounds, which reached 50.23%.



Keywords


essential oil, fertilization, irrigation, laurel, Laurus nobilis L.

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