The effect of biological and organic inputs on quantity and quality of essential oil and some elements content of anise (Pimpinella anisum L.)

Anise (Pimpinella anisum L.) is one of the aromatic and medicinal plants. Anethol is the most important component of its essential oil used in medicinal and food industries. The aim of this experiment was to determine the effect of vermicompost levels (0, 5 and 10 t.ha-1), mixture of Azotobacter, Azospirillum and Pseudomonas (inoculation and not-inoculation) and zeolite (0 and 4.5 t.ha-1) on essential oil content, composition and macro element contents of Pimpinella anisum. Experimental design was randomized complete blocks with factorial arrangement. Field experiment was conducted at Sanandaj Agriculture Research Station, in 2009. The results showed that vermicompost application improved essential oil content and yield, anethol and methyl chavicol percentage, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium content. Inoculating seeds with PGPR led to significant increment in all of the mentioned characters except for methyl cavicol percentage and potassium concentration. Zeolite application had significant effect on essential oil content, oil yield and anethol percentage but no significant effect on the other characters. The most favorable interaction treatment for essential oil production and phosphorus percentage was the PGPR inoculation combined with the highest level of vermicompost.