Effects of Various Nutrient Sources on Growth and Essential Oil Characteristics of Salvia Officinalis L. in Greenhouse

Abstract

The agronomic and chemical characteristics of aromatic plants are affected by nutritional sources. Salvia officinalis (common sage) is an aromatic plant extensively used in food, popular medicine, and many pharmacological research studies. In this study, the effects of NPK, vermicompost and two types of microbiological fertilizer were investigated on the agronomic parameters and volatile oil characteristics of S. officinalis grown in the greenhouse. The plants were harvested two times (1st and 2nd cuttings) during the growing season. The consumption of NPK has the highest effect on stem number (54 no plant-1), fresh and dry herb weight (96.8 and 27.2 g p-1), fresh and dry leaf weight (74.6 and 19.6 g p-1), and volatile oil percentage (1.64%). While the herb weight at the 1st cutting (74.3 g p-1) was higher than the 2nd cutting (70.2 g p-1), the fresh (58.2 g p-1) and dry (16.6 g p-1) leaf weights and the leaf ratio (80.5 %) at the 2nd cutting were higher than the 1st cutting. Moreover, the volatile oil contents at the 1st cutting (1.44%) were higher than the 2nd cutting (1.18%). In total, 31 compounds were identified in the volatile oils by using GC/FID-MS. The percentages of α-Thujone (22.4-31.4%) and Camphor (21.0-25.4%) were found higher than other compounds. The content of α-Thujone was higher in NPK and vermicompost treatments. Based on the results, the application of different nutritional sources improved the yield and chemical properties of S. officinalis. Among the non-chemical nutrient sources, vermicompost had high efficiency.