Dynamics of Phosphorus and Biostimulants on Agro-Morphology, Yield, and Essential Oil Profile of German Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.) Under Acidic Soil Conditions of the Western Himalaya

Abstract

German chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.) is a promising and easy to cultivate crop under suitable nutrient supply conditions, but acidic soils of Indian western Himalayas limit the availability of phosphorus to the plant and reduce flower production. Thus, a field experiment was conducted for two consecutive seasons (2018–2019 and 2019–2020) to study the effect of phosphorus dynamics and biostimulant application on the agro-morphological traits, essential oil (EO) yield, and chemical constituents of German chamomile in the mid hills of the western Himalayan region. The experiment consisted of 12 treatments, four phosphorus fertilizer levels (0, 30, 60 and 90 kg ha−1) and three biostimulants levels (control, amino acid at 5 mL L−1, and humic acid at 10 mL L−1). The experiment was replicated three times in a factorial complete randomized block design (FRBD). Agro-morphological and yield characteristics were significantly higher in phosphorus at 90 kg ha−1 and humic acid application compared to the control. Dry flower and EO yield was 17.87 and 26.76% higher with the 90 kg ha−1 phosphorus application while 2.45 and 5.79% higher in humic acid at 10 mL L−1 compared to the control. The EO constituents viz., chamazulene was 12.04 and 8.85% higher in phosphorus at 90 kg ha−1 and humic acid at 10 mL L−1 application compared to the control. On the other hand, α-bisabolol oxide B and α-bisabolol oxide A were decreased with increase in phosphorus application. This study presents novel facts, elucidation, and explanation for farmers and industrialists to produce German chamomile in acidic soils by integrating biostimulants with phosphorus fertilization and getting maximum yield and quality EO.

Essential oil composition and antimicrobial potential of aromatic plants grown in the mid-hill conditions of the Western Himalayas

“…The plant parts (aerial) were harvested, and the material was brought for essential oil extraction to the laboratory. The essential oil extraction was initiated by hydrodistillation in a Clevenger-type apparatus by following a method similar to an earlier study 38 . GC and GC–MS analysis of essential oil of aromatic plants was initiated by a Shimadzu GC-2010 gas chromatograph (Shimadzu, Tokyo, Japan) which was connected with a flame ionization detector (FID) and a capillary column.…”

Investigation on pollination approaches, reproductive biology and essential oil variation during floral development in German chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.)

“…Several biosynthesis pathways may be disturbed and remained immature during differential harvesting 21,22 , which might be the reason for the variation in quality as well as quantity of essential oil harvested at different floral developmental stages. Beside this, there are several non-genetic factors like time of harvesting 46 , nutrient doses 1,47 , the gap between harvesting and distillation 27,28 and abiotic factors under mega-environments 8,9 , which may affect the quality and quantity of blue essential oil. The observations of present study indicated that the highest quality oil was extracted from the end of blossom stage.…”