Effect of water stress and mulching types on essential oil quantity of Matricaria chamomilla L. var. Vallary

German chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L. var. Vallary) is an annual herb belonging to the Asteraceae family; Chamomile flowers contain a blue essential oil (from ۰.۲۵ to ۱.۳۵ per cent) which has a variety of therapeutic uses. In order to study the effect of water stress levels (irrigation at ۱۰۰, ۸۰, ۶۰% of field capacity) and mulch type (no mulch or control, dry lemon grass mulch, plastic mulch) on German chamomile essential oil quantity, two years field experiment were conducted in split plot technique. The result of statistical analysis showed that treatments had significant effects on essential oil quantity except mulch treatments which it did not showed significant effect on essential oil percentage. Highest amount of essential oil quantity was obtained from irrigation at ۸۰% of field capacity with lemon grass mulch.

Keywords:

Water stress , Mulch , Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla) , Essential oil