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Abstract
Plant density is an important factor in determining the microenvironment in the agricultural and plant production systems. This study examined the effects of different planting densities (25×60 cm, 25×70 cm, 25×80 cm, 35×60 cm, 35×70 cm, 35×80 cm, 45×60 cm, 45×70 cm, and 45×80 cm) on agromorphological parameters and essential oil production of Satureja khuzestanica Jamzad, in 2 growing years. The essential oils were isolated from aerial flowering parts of the plants by hydrodistillation method and subjected to GC and GC-MS analyses to determine the constituents. The mean total two years of growth results indicated that the plant dry weight increased with decreasing density. The highest and the lowest leaf + inflorescence yield per unit area were obtained in the highest and the lowest planting density, respectively. Also, results showed that the 18 compositions were identified in essential oil of S. khuzestanica plants under all employed treatments. In general, essential oil percentage was increased with decreasing of planting density. In contrast, the maximum (25.37 g.m-2) and the minimum (10.06 g.m-2) essential oil yield were recorded in the highest and the lowest planting density, respectively. Interestingly, carvacrol was the major component of oils, which is also showed more variability (ranging from 90.32% to 94%) than that of other components under employed treatments. It is concluded that the S. khuzestanica should be cultivated at high plant densities for getting high essential oil yield and the maximum amount of carvacrol.