Planta Med 2007; 73 - P_244
DOI: 10.1055/s-2007-987025

Essential oil content and composition of German Chamomile affected by age of seedling and date of sowing

M Rafieiolhossaini 1, 2, A Adams 3, N De Kimpe 3, P Van Damme 1
  • 1Laboratory of Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture and Ethnobotany, Coupure Links 653, B-9000 Gent, Belgium
  • 2Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, Shahrekord University, Shahrekord, Iran
  • 3Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Bioscience engineering, Coupure Links 653, B-9000 Gent, Belgium

German chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla) is an annual plant belonging to Asteraceae family. Since chamomile is cultivated commercially, the optimum time for sowing has been the subject of a number of studies [1, 2, 3]. The aim of the present investigation was to determine the influence of sowing time and age of seedling on the essential oil content and composition of German chamomile grown in Belgium. The experiment was carried out on a loamy sand soil at Ghent University, Belgium, during 2005. The treatments consisted of 4 different times of planting (15 April, 1, 15 and 30 May) in combination with 5 seedling ages (30, 45, 60, 75 and 90 days) replicated thrice in a randomized complete block design. Seedlings were transplanted at a spacing of 10cm x 10cm. Plot size under the trial was 70×50cm2. After drying the flowers, the essential oil was isolated by Likens-Nickerson extraction followed by GC-MS analysis.The results indicate that for the first date of sowing, the measured traits were not significantly influenced by the age of seedling at transplanting except for the spathulenol content whereby the highest amount was obtained for 90 days-old seedlings. The planting time for 30 days seedlings had significant effects on the content of (E)-β-farnesene, bisabolol oxide (A), bisabolon oxide and spathulenol.

Results show that the planting time has a more pronounced effect on essential oil content and composition of German chamomile as compared to the age of seedling.

References: [1] Gasic, O. et al. (1991) J. Ess. Oil Res. 3: 295–302. [2] Johri, A.K. et al. (1992) Indian J. Agron. 37: 302–304. [3] Hadj Seyed Hadi, M. et al. (2002) Iranian J. Crop Sci. 4: 208–217.