Effect of Fertilization in Selected Phytometric Features and Contents of Bioactive Compounds in Dry Matter of Two Varieties of Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.)

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of sustainable, organic and standard mineral fertilization in selected phytometric features and contents of bioactive compounds in dry matter of two varieties of Ocimum basilicum L. The herbal material was first examined for its phytometric characterisation and then subjected to the combined convective pre-drying and vacuum-microwave finish drying method (CPD-VMFD). The energy consumption for the drying process of plant material in the case of CPD-VMFD is lower in comparison to the convection method (CD). The obtained dry material was assessed for determination of the colour parameters. Next, the analysis to identify the total content of polyphenols and the antioxidant properties (ABTS) was done. The dried material was subjected to head space–solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) to determine volatile compound content. The herbal material obtained from the basil cultivated with an addition of sustainable, organic fertilizer was found to have a significantly higher content of bioactive compounds than the control, especially of polyphenols and volatile compounds like eucalyptol. Presumably, this is an effect of the elicitation process resulting from the fact that extract from common nettle was applied as an organic fertilizer component.

Effects of Organic and Mineral Fertilization on Yield and Selected Quality Parameters for Dried Herbs of Two Varieties of Oregano (Origanum vulgare L.)

“…The increase in the percentage of this ingredient recorded in the studies for this herb when fertilized organically as opposed to minerally ranged between 8.4% for the Aureum variety and 19.3% for the Hot & Spicy variety (Table 4). A similar relationship between the fertilizer used and the content of the main compounds of the headspace fraction was noted by Matłok et al [16] in the herb of the common basil Ocimum basilicum L. In their study, the authors concluded that organic fertilization had an impact on the growth of the main components of the volatile fraction of the dried mass of two varieties of common basil. The organic fertilization involved a peat substrate that was fortified with common nettle extract (10% in terms of weight) and horse manure (20% in terms of weight), followed by soil-applied fertilization with Biolisa N 12,5.…”

“…Method of drying (S1), drying kinetics determination (S2), HS-SPME GC-MS herbs analysis (S3), total polyphenolic content (S4), antioxidant activities (S5), color analysis (S6) and statistical analysis (S7) methodology are attached as Supplementary Materials [16,18,19].…”

“…The bioactive content and the efficiency and composition of the essential oils in oregano depend on a number of factors, such as variety and crop conditions, including climate, habitat and water stress as well as the fertilization method and harvesting time [13][14][15]. The use of organic fertilizer with plant extracts in cultivating herbs results in a raw material with higher levels of bioactive compounds due to the occurrence of the elicitation phenomenon [16]. Elicitation is an intervention intended to induce a plant's defense reaction.…”

Bioactive Compounds and Aroma Profile of Some Lamiaceae Edible Flowers

“…In spite of this, the species that have been investigated for their spontaneous emission were too negligible compared to the high number of plants present in nature. The spontaneous emission of Ocimum basilicum (Ob) was already widely studied [75][76][77][78][79], but only a few papers investigated its varieties and none of these works reported the varieties studied herein. In 2008, Klimánková et al, [80] evaluated five cultivars of basil green cultivar I (Prava zelena), green cultivar II (Trpaslici), red cultivar III (Cinamonette), red cultivar IV (Purple Opaal), and red cultivar V (Rot), and their volatile composition was characterized by linalool, methyl chavicol, eugenol, bergamotene, and methyl cinnamate.…”

“…In 2008, Klimánková et al, [80] evaluated five cultivars of basil green cultivar I (Prava zelena), green cultivar II (Trpaslici), red cultivar III (Cinamonette), red cultivar IV (Purple Opaal), and red cultivar V (Rot), and their volatile composition was characterized by linalool, methyl chavicol, eugenol, bergamotene, and methyl cinnamate. A more recent study reported the SPME components of two basil varieties (Violetto and Genovese) where linalool (18.94% and 22.57% respectively), eugenol (3.95% and 15.02%, respectively) and methyl eugenol (39.17% and 19.39%, respectively) were identified as the main constituents [77]. On the contrary, the whole spontaneous emission of Malaysian O. basilicum flower was represented by estragole (88.18%) [78].…”