Biomass and volatile oil production of Melissa officinalis L. (lemon balm) under different fertilizations and seasonality

• Autor(a) principal: Sussa, Fábio Vitório
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Outros Autores: Furlan, Marcos Roberto, Silva, Paulo Sergio Cardoso
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Revista Fitos
• DOI: 10.32712/2446-4775.2023.1450
• Texto Completo: https://revistafitos.far.fiocruz.br/index.php/revista-fitos/article/view/1450
• topic: Melissa officinalis; Biomassa; Adubação; Sazonalidade; Óleo essencial; GC/MS; Melissa officinalis; Biomass; Fertilization; Harvest seasonality; Essential oil; GC/MS

Fertilization and seasonality study are necessary because they can influence the biomass production and the volatile oils quality of medicinal herbs. The work aimed to identify the agriculture management and seasonality appropriate for the lemon balm harvest with the best volatile oils quality submitted under the experimental design completely randomized (CRD), with organic and conventional fertilization, control cultivation with and without microelements and four harvests (autumn, winter, spring, and summer). Volatile oil was extracted from Melissa officinalis leaves by hidrodistillation method and analyzed by gas chromatography coupled to a mass spectrometer (GC-MS). Biomass production was higher in fertilized treatments and showed higher growth in organic management in the first harvest (autumn and winter). The agriculture management did not influence the oil production yield (0.02%), however it presented smaller amount in the winter (0.003%). Conventional fertilization favors the neral (33.9–37.5%) and geranial (54.1–59.3%) production in the autumn, spring, and summer seasons. In this sense, the data contribute to expand the knowledge of the lemon balm cultivation and to the National Policy on Integrative and Complementary Practices, aimed at the implementation of Phytotherapy in the Health System.