The effect of different soil textures on growth and essential oil content of lippia Citriodora

Soil physical properties are important because of their essential role in supporting plant growth. These characteristics determine how the plant interacts with the soil, water and nutrient uptake, root penetration, soil temperature and activity of microorganisms. Among the physical properties of soil, soil texture has a significant impact. On the other hand, with the increase in population and the urgent need of the pharmaceutical industry for medicinal plants as a raw material for drug production, attention and research on the Lippia citriodora plant are essential.This study aimed was to investigate the effect of different soil textures on the growth and essential oil content of lemons in order to select the best soil texture for cultivation and essential oil production in greenhouse conditions. For this purpose, the experiment was performed in a completely randomized block design with three replications in a pot. The experimental treatments included four types of loam, sandy loam, sandy and silty clay soil textures. After full growth of the plant Lippia citriodora, the amount of essential oil of the plant was measured the hydrodistillation method. The results showed that the most suitable soil for planting lemons is loamy, soil texture which is not significantly different from loamy sandy soil texture and in terms of the amount of essential oil of this plant in sandy soil texture has the highest percentage of essential oil (۶۹%). However, since the leaf produced in loamy soil is more than its amount in sandy texture, so in each plant base, Lippi acitriodora in loamy soil, a higher percentage of essential oil is produced.

Keywords:

soil texture , Lippia citriodora , essential oil.