Productivity and Oil Quality of Thymus Vulgaris L. Under Growth Promoters and Soilless Culture Conditions

Abstract

Thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.) belongs to the lamiaceae family. It is characterized by its medicinal and economic values. Thymus is grown worldwide for cosmetic and medical use. Plant bio-stimulants are classified as substances which have positive effects on growth and productivity of plants. Bio-stimulants are obtained naturally from various economically and environmentally viable sources. The current experiment aimed to investigate the response of thymus physical and chemical properties to the different types and concentrations of bio-stimulators under soil less culture conditions for two successive seasons 2019 and 2020. Thymus seedlings were planted in pots filled with mixed media of perlite: sand (1:1v/v). Plants were sprayed with aqueous solution of ascorbic acid (1 and 2g/l), aspartic acids (500 and 1000 ppm) and dry yest (2 and 4g/l) and combination of them compared with control. The herp was harvested in mid- July (First cutting) and first week of October (second cut). Growth and yield characters were measured. The essential oil percentage was determined and analyzed by GC in both cuts from the fresh herb. Results showed that, spraying of mixtures of ascorbic acid (2g/l), aspartic acids (1000 ppm) and yeast (4g/l)) significantly increased yield, total carbohydrates, total phenols, total pigments, essential oil percentage and yield as well as its NPK content characters and components of essential oil high contents of thymol, ? and ? –Pinene during both cuts and for both seasons. Economic evaluation was carried out by calculating with the highest return in the mixture treatment. It is clear that all treatments are economically feasible however, one can find that the maximum return or profit comes from mixture treatments where the benefit to cost ratio were 3.99 and 3.9 for Mix2 and Mix1 respectively.