Influence of Gypsum and Farmyard Manure Application in Soil on Yield and Chemical Composition of Essential oil of Rose Scented Geranium (Pelargonium graveolens L'Herit.ex Ait.)

Abstract:

A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the influence of farm yard manure (FYM) and gypsum application on the yield and chemical composition of essential oil of rose scented geranium. The herbage and essential oil yield of geranium was significantly increased (at 5 % level) by the combined application of FYM and gypsum along with recommended fertilizer application as compared to sole application of N, P and K fertilizer taken as control. The combined application of FYM and gypsum in soil was more effective to increase the herbage and essential oil yield of geranium by 35.4 % which was followed by the sole application of FYM (25.2 %) and gypsum (12.3 %) as compared to control. The chemical composition of the essential oil of geranium was affected differentially with the applied treatments. The content of citronellol, geraniol, linalool, citronellyl and geranyl formate in the essential oil of geranium were significantly increased by 48.9, 20.3, 62.3, 15.6 and 66.4 % respectively with the combined application of FYM and gypsum as compared to control but those were not significantly affected with the sole application of FYM and gypsum . The level of iso-menthone, trans-rose oxide were not affected but the content of cis-rose oxide was decreased and that of nerol and 10-epi-γ-eudesmol was increased in the essential oil of geranium with the application of FYM, gypsum and their combination as compared to control. The results suggest that the combined application of FYM and gypsum would be beneficial to obtain higher herb and essential oil yield of rose scented geranium with enhanced level of citronellol, geraniol along with their esters and other minor compounds like linalool, nerol, 10-epi-γ-eudesmol in the essential oil of geranium.

Keywords:

• Essential oil
• Farm yard manure
• Geranium
• Gypsum