Effects of Biostimulants on the Chemical Composition of Essential Oil and Hydrosol of Lavandin (Lavandula x intermedia Emeric ex Loisel.) Cultivated in Tuscan-Emilian Apennines.

Eleonora Truzzi,Davide Bertelli,Enrico Francia,Domenico Ronga,Stefania Benvenuti

doi:10.3390/molecules26206157

Abstract

In recent years, it has been shown that biostimulants can efficiently enhance plant metabolic processes, leading to an increased production of essential oil (EO) in aromatic plants. The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of two different commercial biostimulants composed of amino acids and seaweed extract, normally used for food organic crops, on the production and composition of EO and hydrosol of Lavandula x intermedia, cultivar “Grosso”. The products were applied during 2020 growing season on lavender crops in three different locations of the Northern Italian (Emilia-Romagna Region) Apennines. Plants were harvested and EOs extracted by steam distillation and analyzed by gas chromatography. Both biostimulants affected the yield of EO per plant (+11% to +49% depending on the treatment/farm combination) without significantly changing the chemical composition of EOs and hydrosols. Conversely, the composition of EOs and hydrosols are related to the location, and the main compounds of “Grosso” cultivar, limonene, 1,8-cineole, cis-ocimene, linalool, camphor, borneol, terpinen-4-ol, and linalyl acetate, show different ratios at the experimental test sites. The differences might be due to the sunlight exposure and various maintenance of the crops over the years. In conclusion, these results suggest that the employment of biostimulants on lavandin crops do not endanger the quality of the EO while increasing biomass production and promoting the sustainability of the crop.

Highlights

Essential oils (EOs) have been employed in food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries due to their countless biological activities [1,2,3]
The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of two different commercial biostimulants composed of amino acids and seaweed extract, normally used for food organic crops, on the production and composition of essential oil (EO) and hydrosol of Lavandula x intermedia, cultivar “Grosso”
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first research work which aimed to evaluate the effects of biostimulants on the composition of Lavandula x intermedia (Emeric ex Loisel.) EOs and hydrosols

Summary

Introduction

Essential oils (EOs) have been employed in food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries due to their countless biological activities [1,2,3]. For most of the aromatic plant species, the yield of EOs is very low, and, in order to handle industrial quantities of plant material, large distillation equipment and considerable consumption of thermal energy are required For this reason, there are numerous efforts to increase the yield of EOs starting from the application of agricultural interventions, as well as improvements in the extraction technique. Amino acids (AA) and peptides are one of the most employed growth promoters They are obtained from both plant and animal wastes by protein hydrolysis and are widely recognized as promoters of N uptake and precursors of secondary compounds and hormones. Notwithstanding the well-documented effectiveness, few studies attempted to employ biostimulants on organic Lavandula crops to improve their productivity, the yield of EO, and its chemical quality [25,26]

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