Effects of Foliar Zinc Applications on Essential Oil Composition and Resin Yield in Mastic tree (Pistacia lentiscus var. chia Duham.)
Project no. 20722 · Status: Kapanmış (Yayın bekleniyor) · 2019
Summary
<p>Mastic tree (<em>Pistacia</em> <em>lentiscus</em> var. <em>chia</em> Duham.) is an important medicinal-aromatic plant which is growing without a regular fertilization in practice. Agean region is being an important potential in terms of proper edafic conditions for this plant, which is known to be cultivated only at the south of Chios Island since for many years. The resin, essential oil and α- tocopherol obtained from the mastic tree have been extensively used in medicine pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food industries nowadays. The small amounts of micro nutrients are necessary for growth and devolepment of plants. It is a known fact that the foliar applications of micro elements positively affected the amount and composition of essential oils in medicinal-aromatic plants. Foliar zinc applications have particularly great importance due to it’s role in many metabolic activities in most cultivated plants. In this study the effects of foliar ZnSO4 on some growth yield parameters and the essential oil composition of mastic tree applied in two different phenological stages (50 and 100% leafing) and four different levels (0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8%) were determined. The results obtained from this project which was carried out in two consecutive years showed that, treatment of 0.8% Zn provided more than two fold increment in resin yield particularly in the second year. The highest leaf Zn content was determined as 187.8 mg l-1 in the first year, at 100% leafing stage with 0.8% ZnSO4 treatment. Essential oil and α- tocopherol contents of leaves were not affected by the different phenological stages and ZnSO4 levels significantly in each year of the study. The major constituents and their amounts that determined in leaf essential oil are, β-myrcene (62.4%), germacrene-D (14,3%), α-terpinenyl acetate (5.52%), trans caryophyllene (2.1%) and α-pinene (1.4%) respectively. Foliar zinc applications were markedly increased the β-myrcene, germacrene-D and α-pinene contents of leaf essential oil particularly in the first year, at 100% leafing stage. In mastic tree, foliar zinc sprayings at two successive phenological stages were effective to reach the desirable leaf Zn contents, and 0.8% Zn gave rise to increments in the amounts of examined parameters was determined. </p>