Morphophysiological and Phytochemical Responses of Dill (Anethum graveolens L.) to Foliar Application of Iron Sulfate and Zinc Sulfate

Foliar application of essential elements is one of the most effective methods for the supply nutritional requirements of plants and increase the quantity and quality of plants yield, especially in calcareous soils.

This study was aimed to evaluate the changes in morphophysiological and pharmacological of characterestics of dill under foliar application of iron and zinc at the field conditions.

This study has been conducted in the research farm of ACECR, Institute of Medicinal Plants during 2013 on the basis of factorial experiment in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. The treatments were included of iron sulfate at 4 concentrations (0, 1, 1.5 and 2 g L-1), and 3 levels of Zinc sulfate (0, 1 or 2 g L-1).

Application of iron and zinc sulfate had significant effect (p<0.01) on the leaf number per plant, number of lateral branches, number of inflorescences, number of umbelets per main umbel, the number of seeds per plant, shoot dry weight, essential oil content, yield of essential oil and alpha phellandrene content. In addition, all traits were significantly influenced by the iron sulphate concentrations. While, the main effect of zinc sulfate was significant only on the number of branches, shoot dry weight, alpha phellandrene content (p<0.01), and also, essential oil content, essential oil yield, and number of inflorescences (p<0.05). The highest essential oil content in the treatment of foliar application of iron and zinc sulfate at 2 g.L-1 and the maximum essential oil yield in the treatment of iron sulfate at 1.5 g.L-1 with zinc sulfate at 1 g.L-1 were obtained.

Foliar application of integrated Iron and Zinc able to create favorable conditions for increase the quantity and quality yield of dill.