Over the centuries, humanity has known and utilized some sacred oils extracted from their medicinal plants for therapeutic purpose. They are considered as good source of bioactive compounds having a wide range of vital biological activities. Aromatic oils have been a part of human history for more than 3,500 years BC and appeared with regularity throughout all major civilizations down the ages, with uses ranging from religious ritual, food flavoring, medicines, perfumery and the masking of bad odors. It is impossible to date exactly when plants were first used medicinally, since such a development would have taken place over thousands of years. During recent decades, many researchers have investigated the mechanisms of action and the therapeutic use of essential oils as physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. This review, highlights on some sacred essential oils extracted from important traditional medicinal plants that possesses several pharmacological properties, considering that the safety and versatility of this these supplement should allow for its use in numerous pathological conditions.
An experiment was conducted to study the effect of integrated nutrient management practices on the microbial community dynamics of soils under sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) at ICAR - Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru during the Kharif season of 2015 and 2016. There were nine treatments replicated thrice in randomized complete block design. The results indicated that integrated application of FYM (10 t/ha) + 100% recommended N through FYM + bio-fertilizer i.e., T2 recorded the highest population of heterotrophic free-living N2 fixers (40.66 and 63.33 CFU ×103/ g), phosphate solubilizing bacteria (5.6 and 6.6 CFU ×103/ g) and fungal (6.4 and 5.33 CFU ×103/ g) while T9 with the application of NPK (160:80:80 kg /ha) + FYM (10 t/ha) recorded the highest population of actinomycetes (29.93 and 44.56 CFU ×103/ g) in the soil during 2015 and 2016, respectively. Application of recommended dose of FYM (10 t/ha) in T7 resulted in a reduction in the population of heterotrophic free-living N2 fixers (26.13 and 34 CFU ×103/ g) and actinomycetes (20 and 30.5 CFU ×103/ g) whereas, the application of a recommended dose of chemical fertilizer in T8 recorded the lowest population of phosphate solubilizing bacteria (3.9 CFU ×103/ g) and fungal (3.6 and 2.5 CFU ×103/ g) during 2015 and 2016, respectively. The highest organic carbon (0.63 and 0.66 %) content in the post-harvest soil samples was recorded with the application of NPK (160:80:80 kg /ha) + FYM (10 t/ha) while, the lowest organic carbon value (0.52 and 0.53%) was recorded in T8 during 2015 and 2016, respectively. Application of recommended FYM (10 t/ha) along with recommended NPK (160:80:80 kg/ha) in T9 recorded maximum herbage yield in the main crop (41.59 and 38.31 t/ha) and ratoon (20.97 and 17.77 t/ha) during 2015 and 2016, respectively. The results obtained from this study clearly demonstrated that integrated nutrient management can maximize soil microbial community dynamics which is considered as the driving force behind regulating soil processes that support sustainable sweet basil cultivation.
Field experiments were conducted at ICAR - Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru during Kharif season of 2015 and 2016 with nine treatments and three replications in a randomized block design to find out the effects of integrated nutrient management on Quantity and Quality of essential oil of basil (Ocimum basilicum) . The results revealed that combined application of recommended FYM (10 t ha-1) and NPK (160:80:80 kg ha-1) registered the highest oil yield in the main crop (211.94, 187.46 l ha-1) and in ratoon (144.36, 70.81 l ha-1) during 2015, 2016, respectively. For oil quality, the main constituents of basil essential oil have been reported and the result showed that chemical compositions of the essential oil for sweet basil were affected by fertilizers in the maincrop and ratoon during two years of the experiment. In general, application of NPK (160:80:80 kg ha-1) + FYM (10 t ha-1) i.e., T9 recorded the best quality. The results obtainedfrom this study demonstrated that integrated nutrient management can maximize nutrient absorption as a result of increased soil fertility which reflected on oil yield and quality.
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