Yield capacity of biomass and morphological-biological peculiarities of the starting material samples of сornflower (Ocimum basilicum L.) in the conditions of the lowland zone of Zakarpatian

Abstract

Introduction. Zakarpatian region is a special region, which combines a number of specific factors, namely: it is small land, the vast majority of soils are heavy and low-humus, but the climate conditions of the region are extremely favorable for the cultivation of aromatic plants, including the cornflowers. This region is a creative area where Ocimum basilicum L can take a decent place in the production of products with the original taste for the food industry and serve as raw material for other industries of production.

The interest in cornflowers is increasing. Every year they become more and more widespread in the individual sector. To ensure the demand for products and for the production of raw materials, it is necessary to use varieties adapted to specific growing conditions.

Analysis of recent researches and publications. Cornflowers (Ocimum basilicum L.) – are the spread valuable aromatic, food and technical crops. The availability of a wide range of biologically active and aromatic compounds and their useful properties is a source of plant raw material for many industries and branches. The solution to the problem is to enrich the range and introduce valuable varieties of cornflowers in different regions with the study of morphological and biochemical characteristics, productivity and accumulation of essential oils in existing and introduced samples of cornflower genuine [1, p. 5; 2, p. 3].

The development and increase of the type and variety assortment of cornflowers and expansion of their growing zone, including Transcarpathia, will allow to increase the efficiency of land use utilization, improve the ecological condition of the region and satisfy most fully the demand of the domestic and foreign markets for the spicy vegetable raw materials. Today, the main suppliers of spicy products of cornflowers and aromatic compounds extracted from essential oils (eugenol, camphor and vanillin) are France, Italy, Morocco and Egypt [3, p. 15; 4, p. 8].

Purpose. The aim of the given research is to define the perspectives of cornflowers growing in the lowland zone of Transcarpathia on the bases of their sort varieties study and influence of the meteorological conditions on formation of the morphological-biological peculiarities and yield capacity of plants’ biomass.

Methods. During 2011-2016 in the collection breeding ground on the soddy podzolic gleyed soils 12 samples of cornflower had been studied (Ukraine, Russia, Hungary, Germany, France). The main amount of samples is represented by the following sorts - O. basilicum L. (forms without anthocyanin – 10 samples and O. viride Wild (salad varieties – Lettuce Livd and Medinet). Jung variety was taken to be the standard one. The field and laboratory investigations were conducted according with the methodological recommendations of the leading scientific institutions [9–13].

Results. In selection work it is important to establish the factors that provide maximum yield and good technological productivity. In order to optimize the selection of forms of cornflowers with a high morphological and biological characteristics and valuable household economic characteristics, a detailed assessment of quantitative characteristics was carried out and a connection between the dependence of these characteristics on the formation of the yield of the cornflower was defined.

According to the results of correlation analysis there had been established the connection of the medium power between the qualitative characteristics (amount of the branches of the second order and height of the plant ‑ r=0.51, inflorescences amount and height ‑ r=0.80 and amount of branches of the second order ‑ r=0.71, length of the branches and height  ‑ r=0.69 and amount of inflorescences ‑ r=0.57 and length of the inflorescences and height ‑ r=0.49 and amount of inflorescences ‑ r=0.50). The yield capacity of the cornflowers correlates less considerably with the formation of the qualitative characteristics (the average connections are observed between the plants’ yield and height (r=0.69) and amount of inflorescences (r=0.50), and to a considerable extend correlates with the meteorological conditions of the year (SАТ ‑ r=0.85; downfalls ‑ r= -0.47 and HTC (hydrothermal coefficient) r=0.61) and variety characteristics of the plants.

On average, during the six years of growing the best according to the several features were MVZ-2 (height of plants ‑ 53.8 cm, diameter of the bush ‑ 62.0 cm, the number of branches of the second order ‑ 16 pieces and inflorescences ‑ 19 pieces, length of branches ‑ 21 , 0 and inflorescence ‑ 16,0), American (53,5 cm and 71,5 cm, 14 pcs and 18 pc, 24,2 cm and 15,5 cm respectively) and Aromatic ‑ 51,5 cm 72,5 cm, the number of branches of the 2nd order and inflorescences 15 pieces and 18 pieces, the length of branches of the second order and inflorescences ‑ 22.5 cm and 14.5 cm. The salad varieties sorts of Medinet and Jackofur had some significant parameters of the diameter of the bush ‑ 67.1 cm and ‑ 67.7 cm, the length of the branches ‑ 19.0 cm and 19.5 cm and the length of the inflorescence ‑ 16.5 cm and 16.8 cm.

The biomass productivity of the plant, in average during 2011‑2016, was within the level of 252.5‑372.5 g (10.1‑14.9 t/ha). In the samples of salad type (Jackofur, Medinet, Lettuce Livd and Green), the productivity of the mass was lower than in the standard by 21.5‑60.0 g, but the yield of leaves and inflorescences (69.2%, 67.3% and 60.8%) predominated the standard type on 1.6‑10%, with the exception of the Green, where the yield of the leaves and inflorescences was 52.9% (the standard 59.2%). New samples of CRBS and IvfraKO formed the largest yield, which was 14.6‑14.9 t/ha, and the output of the raw material was 63.7 and 57.1%, respectively. The content of essential oils was the highest in the following samples: Aromatic (0.74%), Medinet (0.73%), American (0.65%) and Jackofur (0.64%), with the release of essential oils at standard s. Jung ‑ 0.33%.

Ecologically flexible according to the indicators of mass from the plant and yield were the following samples – Medinet (b_i=0,72), Jackofur Д (b_i=0,77) and Grows (b_i=0,87 and 0.88). Due to the high specific adaptive ability (SAA) of the characteristics of mass per plant the following samples had been defined: ІfraКО (SAA= 11516,56) and CRBS (SAA= 10403,68) and according to the yield – CrBS (18,89), ІfraКО (18,20), Charodiy (13,56) and Green (12,0). The selection value of genotype (SVG) according to the mass per plant and yield was the highest in the following samples: Aromatic (161,85 and 6,47) and American (161,17 and 6,28).

The results of investigations had a practical implementation while created with the help of the poly cross method (Aromatic/American//Medinet ) a new promising sort for the conditions of Transcarpathia ‑ Green Gold (2014), the value of which is defined through the economic efficiency of growing in the conditions of soil-climate zone. Growing the new sort – Green Gold provides the economic effect: 1) of the raw material for pharmaceutical and processing branches 4500 htn/ha and the level of profitability made up 64.4%; 2) spicy greens 40000 hrn/ha and the level of profitability 108,0%.

Discussion. In the process of study of the samples of genetic fund of the type of Ocimum basilicum L there had been singled out the samples of the starting material which are the promising for being involved into the selection process in the lowland conditions of Transcarpathia, which form a large amount of selective features, possess the highest indicators of yield, increased content of biologically active combinations and essential oil.