DOES MINERAL FERTILIZATION MODIFY ESSENTIAL OIL CONTENT AND CHEMICAL COMPOSITION IN MEDICINAL PLANTS

Essential oils are the main active components of many essential oil raw materials. This is the most numerous group of medicinal raw materials, which has a big tradition and still a wide application in therapeutics. Oil raw materials are obtained from natural stands and from crops. Cultivation method, fertilization, irrigation, date of harvest of plant material can significantly modify both the content and composition of essential oil. Nutrients applied in the form of mineral and organic fertilization are supplied to plants by root and foliar application. Foliar nitrogen application increases essential oil content in some plants and affects essential oil composition. Moreover, essential oil content and yield are modified by the rate of applied nitrogen. Higher nitrogen application increases methyl chavicol concentration and decreases the percentage of linalool in the volatile oil of some aromatic plant species. In the cultivation of some aromatic plants, a higher amount of potassium contributes to an increase in essential oil content and in the percentage of 1,8-cineole, linalool, eugenol, and γ-cadinene in the oil. Other nutrients available in the nutritional environment of plants are also capable of changing essential oil yield and composition. Likewise biofertilization, balanced mineral fertilization of aromatic plants is an important cultivation factor determining essential oil quantity and quality.