PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF MYCORRHIZAE ON GROWTH, CHEMICAL COMPOSITION, OIL YIELD AND ITS COMPONENTS OF OCIMUM BASILICUM (L.) PLANTS GROWING UNDER DIFFERENT LEVELS OF CHEMICAL FERTILIZATION

Abstract

Two pot experiments were carried out at the Central Laboratoryfor Agriculture Climate (CLAC), Agricultural Research Centre, Dokki,Giza, Egypt, during 2012 and 2013 summer seasons. The objective of thiswork was to study the effect of Mycorrhizae on vegetative growth, oilproduction and chemical characters of basil plant. Treatments werearranged in complete randomized design (CRD) with three replicates inboth seasons. As the NPK level was increased vegetative growthcharacters (plant height, number of branches, leaf area and leavesnumber) of basil plant were significantly increased in both seasons. Inaddition, they significantly increased as a result of the appliedmycorrhizae when compared to un-treated plants in both seasons. Thehighest values for growth characters were obtained when treated with thecombination of NPK recommended dose with mycorrhizae. Applicationof NPK fertilization tended to increase mineral concentration including N,P, K, Ca, Fe, Zn, Mn as well as protein, total carbohydrates and oil yieldas well as major ingredients of essential oil of basil plants. Alsomycorrhizae treatments tended to increase the same attributes whencompare with un-treated plants. Similar trend was obtained for N, P, K,Ca, Fe, Zn, Mn as well as protein and total carbohydrates in both herb androots of plants. Generally, the maximum herb fresh and dry yield andessential oil yield were obtained with the integrated application ofmycorrhizae and recommended dose of NPK. As well as, treatment ofinoculated basil plants with mycorrhizae with half dose of NPK wassignificantly higher than treatment in which plants fertilized only with100% of NPK. It might be concluded that applying mycorrhizae mightimprove nutritional status of basil plants leading to higher plantproductivity.