Evalution of Drought Stress Effect on Growth, Yield, Essential Oil and Chamazulene Percentage of Three Chamomile (Matricaria recutita L.) Cultivars in Khuzestan Condition

The effect of drought stress on growth، photosynthesis، essential oil yield and chamazulene percentage of three chamomile (Matricaria recutita L.) cultivars in Islamic Azad University، Shoshtar Branch was studied. The experimental design was split-plot based on randomized complete blocke design (RCBD) with 4 replications. Main plots consisted of drought stress levels including control (90% field capacity)، medium stress (75% field capacity) and hard stress (55%field capacity) and sub-plots included 3 chamomile cultivars (Presov، Bodgold and Sherazi). Results showed that drought stress had significant effect on photosynthesis، plant height، organic solute concentration، flower yield، essential oil and chamazulene percentage of chamomile cultivars. Medium stress level did not impose significant effect on essential oil yield of chamomile cultivars compared to control. Under highest drought stress level، Presov and Bodgold cultivars had highest flower yield (123. 4 and 121 g/m2)، essential oil yield (0. 159 and 0. 163 g/m2) and chamazulene percentage (4. 81 and 5. 71).