Potential of Lippia alba (Mill.) N.E. Br. ex Britt. & P. Wilson, as available source of linalool in southern Brazil

Abstract

Vegetative development, essential oil yield and composition of nine genetic materials of Lippia alba, linalool chemotype, were compared in the environmental conditions of Southern Brazil. Plants were propagated by stem cuttings and transferred to field in a completely randomized design with four replications and six plants each. The vegetative growth, essential oil yield and composition were evaluated after two harvests. The essential oil samples were obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The leaf dry mass accumulation, essential oil yield and linalool levels were great after the first harvest of all genetic materials. ‘Lavras’ genetic material produced significantly higher leaf dry mass at the first harvest. High essential oil yield was found in ‘Muzambinho’ genetic material and linalool levels in ‘Brasilia²’ at the first (92.10%) and second (76.56%) harvests.

Keywords:

• yield
• harvest time
• leaf dry mass
• Verbenaceae

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thanks Prof. Jean Kleber (Federal University of Brazilia) for providing the plant material used in the experiment and the Brazilian Agency for Research (CAPES) for the financial support to the first author.