Effects of summer savory ( Satureja hortensis L.) and sweet corn ( Zea mays L. saccharata) intercropping on crop production and essential oil profiles of summer savory

PeerJ

article

Ruhollah Naderi¹  Farzad Bijani¹  Akbar Karami¹  Bhagirath S. Chauhan²  Todd P. Egan³ 

[1] School of Agriculture, Shiraz University;The University of Queensland;Elmira College

关键词: Sustainable agriculture;    Medicinal plants;    Industrial crops;    Land equivalent ratio;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.14753

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

A 2-year field experiment evaluated the effects of sweet corn-summer savory intercropping on crop productivity and essential oil (EO) composition of summer savory. Five cropping patterns of Corn 100%:Savory 0%, C75:S25, C50:S50, C25:S75, and C0:S100 were tested. The highest corn yield (2,440 kg ha−1) was obtained in a corn monoculture, but was not significantly different from C75:S25 or C50:S50. However, in both years the highest savory yield was obtained in S100 (793.3 g m−2 and 816.6 g m−2, respectively). Savory yields decreased as the proportion of corn increased. The land equivalent ratios in C25:S75, C50:S50, and C75:S25 were 1.54 ± 0.07, 1.56 ± 0.03, and 1.35 ± 0.1, respectively. Monocropped savory had the highest EO value followed by C25:S75 and C50:C50. However, no significant differences were found among these three treatments. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS) analysis showed that the major components were carvacrol (35.88%–42.96%), γ-terpinene (18.45%–20.03%), ρ-cymene (11.77%–12.24%), and α-terpinene (2.75%–3.96%). The highest amount of carvacrol was recorded in C25:S75 (42.96%). This study suggests that intercropping of corn and savory represents an effective sustainable strategy, especially for smallholders, as a way to increase their overall land productivity and to improve the quality of savory’s EO.

【 授权许可】

CC BY