Green biomass production and quality of essential oils of pal-marosa (cymbopogon martini (roxb.) will. watson) with appli-cation of synthesis fertilizers and organic fertilizers

Abstract

El uso de fertilizantes minerales en cultivos de Cymbopogon martini (Palmarosa) con el fin de incrementar la biomasa y el rendimiento de aceite esencial (AE) es una práctica cada vez más frecuente. Este aceite es rico en geraniol y acetato de geranilo, moléculas con alto valor en las industrias de productos cosméticos y farmacéutica. Las plantas fueron obtenidas del Centro Nacional de Investigación Agroindustrial de Plan-tas Aromaticas y Medicinales de la Universidad Industrial de Santander (UIS) (Cenivam) (07° 08’ 31.68”N, 73° 07’ 06.14O; 988 m.s.n.m.), Santander, Colombia. El objetivo del estudio fue evaluar la productividad de biomasa y analizar la calidad y el rendimiento de los aceites esenciales (AE) de este cultivo con la apli-cación de tres tipos de fertilizantes químico: Nutrimon® 14-14-14, NPK granulado (10% N, 14% P2O5 , 14% K2O), en dosis de 2, 4 y 6 g/planta, más un tratamiento con 400 g de un fertilizante orgánico,. Se utilizó un diseño de bloques completos al azar, con trece tratamientos y tres cosechas de tres plantas cada una como repeticiones. Los datos fueron sometidos a análisis de variancia con comparación de las medias por la prueba de Tukey a 5% de probabilidad. No se observaron correlaciones entre biomasa y rendimien-to del AE en función del tipo del fertilizante aplicado, lo que sugirió que los tratamientos que incrementa-ron la producción de biomasa no necesariamente representaron mayor rendimiento del AE y viceversa. Se encontró que los fertilizantes orgánicos son ideales para este cultivo, ya que favorecieron rendimientos relativamente altos en aceite, con altos porcentajes de geraniol y acetato de geranilo.

The use of mineral fertilizers in Cymbopogon martini (Palmarosa) crops has been implemented in order to increase biomass and essential oil yield. Palmarosa oil is rich in geraniol and geranyl acetate, molecules with high value in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. Plants were obtained from the Seed Bank of the Centro Nacional de Investigación Agroindustrial de Plantas Aromaticas y Medicinales de la Univer-sidad Industrial de Santander (UIS) (Cenivam), Santander, Colombia. Seedlings were maintained under conditions of nursery for two months and then were taken to the experimental field, in which the survival rate in the new crop conditions was calculated. The crop was carried out in the Cenivam experimental area (07° 08’ 31.68”N, 73° 07’ 06.14W; 988 m.a.s.l.), in a sandy-soil clay loam. The aim of the study was to evaluate the biomass productivity and analyze the quality and yield of the essential oil obtained of the C. martini crop under three types of fertilizers: Nutrimon® 14-14-14, mineral NPK granular fertilizer for agricultural use for land application composed of ammoniacal nitrogen 10%, nitric nitrogen (4%), assimi-lable phosphorus (P2O5) (14%), and water soluble potassium (K2O) (14%), for treatments, 2, 4 and 6 g/plant were applied locally; and a treatment with 400 g of organic fertilizer were applied. A complete random block design, with thirteen treatments and three harvests and each one, consisting of three plants as replications was used. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance, comparing the means by Tukey test at 5% probability. No correlations between biomass and essential oil yield, according to the type of fertilizer applied, were observed, that suggests that treatments that increased the biomass did not neces-sarily represent higher essential oil yield, and treatments whose essential oil yield increments were signifi-cant, not necessarily corresponded to the largest biomass. It was found that organic or green fertilizers could be ideal for these crops, as they allowed relatively high oil yields, with higher percentages of geraniol and its acetate.