Sulfur Fertilization and Thiobacillus Inoculation Enhance Growth, Biomass Production, and Essential Oil Characteristics of Sweet Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.)

Document Type : Original Article

Author

University of guilan

Abstract

Sulfur availability and microbial-mediated sulfur transformation can influence plant growth and the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites in medicinal and aromatic plants. The present study was conducted to evaluate the individual and interactive effects of sulfur application and Thiobacillus inoculation on the growth, biomass accumulation, and essential oil characteristics of sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.). A factorial experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with three replications in the experimental fields of Ran Agricultural Company, Firuzkoh region, Iran, in 2018. The treatments consisted of six sulfur application rates (0, 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500 kg ha⁻¹) and two levels of Thiobacillus inoculation (uninoculated and inoculated). The measured traits included plant height, leaf number, leaf length and width, leaf area index, fresh and dry biomass of leaves and stems, chlorophyll content, essential oil content, essential oil percentage, essential oil yield, and borneol concentration and yield. Sulfur application significantly affected most of the evaluated growth and physiological traits, including plant height, leaf number, leaf and stem fresh and dry weights, leaf area index, leaf dimensions, chlorophyll content, and essential oil characteristics. Thiobacillus inoculation also significantly improved plant height, leaf production, leaf fresh and dry biomass, leaf area index, chlorophyll content, and essential oil-related traits. Significant interactions between sulfur and Thiobacillus were observed for leaf dry weight, leaf area index, chlorophyll content, essential oil percentage, borneol concentration, essential oil yield, and borneol yield, indicating that the response of basil to sulfur availability was partly dependent on bacterial inoculation. In general, increasing sulfur application enhanced most agronomic and essential oil traits, with the 500 kg ha⁻¹ treatment producing the greatest values for most measured characteristics, except chlorophyll content. At this rate, leaf fresh weight, stem fresh weight, and leaf dry weight reached 59.22, 56.16, and 9.64 g plant⁻¹, respectively. Overall, the findings demonstrate that appropriate sulfur fertilization combined with Thiobacillus inoculation can improve biomass production and essential oil productivity of basil and may provide a useful nutrient-management strategy for more sustainable production of aromatic plants.

Keywords

References

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