Comparision of the Growth, Mineral Nutrient Concentrations and Essential Oil of Two Iranian Local Basil (Ocimum basilicum) in Hydroponic and Aquaponic Systems

Basil (Ocimum basilicum) is an herb belongs to Lamiaceae family. The essential oil of basil is widely utilized as an aromatic agent in the food، pharmaceutical and perfumery industries. Basil essential oil possesses antimicrobial property. Due to high economical value and high demand، basil production in greenhouse for permanent market selling is expanding. In order to the investigation of the effect of soilless culture systems on yield and essential oil content of basil an experiment was arranged as a factorial in the framework of a completely randomized design with two factors، growing system (aquaponics and hydroponics) and varieties (green and violet basil) with 3 replications. The results showed that the most of the growth factors in two cultivars were higher in the hydroponics compared with aquaponics. So that، shoot and root fresh and dry mass، hight، leaf area and node number per plant were higher in hydroponics than aquaponics. SPAD value was affected by growing system treatments and it was 12. 86% higher in hydroponic system. Essential oil content in shoots was not affected by the systems or cultivars. Lower amount of N، P and Mn in shoots were probable reasons of lower SPAD value and growth reduction of plants in aquaponics compared with hydroponics. Notwithstanding، plants growth were normal and there were no deficiency symptoms in aquaponic-grown plants. Thus، nutrient deficiency in aquaponic system might be alleviated by increasing of the fish number per water volume unit and elevation of fish feeding. Therfore، aquaponic system has potential of medicinal plant production.