Effect of the water stress on the growth and the essential oil production of the Melaleuca alternifolia Cheel

• Autor(a) principal: Silva, Silvia R.S.
• Data de Publicação: 2008
• Outros Autores: Demuner, Antonio Jacinto, de Almeida Barbosa, Luiz Claudio, Dias Casali, Vicente Wagner, Nascimento, Evandro A., Pinheiro, Antonio Lelis
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Acta Scientiarum. Agronomy (Online)
• Texto Completo: http://www.periodicos.uem.br/ojs/index.php/ActaSciAgron/article/view/2382
• topic: Myrtaceae; terpenos; 1; 8-cineol; efeitos ambientais; alpha-terpineol; tea tree; 5.00.00.00-4 Ciências Agrárias

The effect of water stress on the production, chemical composition of the essential oil and on the growth of Melaleuca alternifolia Cheel (Myrtaceae) was investigated. Each treatment consisted of a water regime (1- irrigation with 0,5 L of water per pot every two days; 2- irrigation with 1L of water per pot every day; 3- the pots were kept in a container with 1 cm of water (1L); 4- the pots were kept in a container with 10 cm of water (12L). The severe water deficiency resulted in a reduction in the plant growth, production of fresh and dry biomass and in the essential oil. The major constituents of the essential oil of M. alternifolia did not differ significantly among the treatments, with 1.77 to 3.22% for p-cymene, 1.86 to 3.54% for 1,8-cineol, 9.05 to 10.25% for -terpineol, 19.10 to 20.80% to γ-terpinene and 37.89 to 39.37% for terpinen-4-ol