Journal article

Publication year: 2011

Pages: 26-33

Journal: Zeitschrift für Arznei- und Gewürzpflanzen

Volume number: 16

Issue number: 1

ISSN: 1431-9292

Publisher: Erling

Abstract: 
To study the effects of sowing time and sowing density on fruit yield, essential oil concentration and composition of anise (Pimpinella anisum L.), a field experiment was conducted during 2005 and 2006 at the research station Gross-Gerau of Justus Liebig University in Germany. A completely randomized experiment design with three sowing times (from April to May) and three sowing densities (from 8 to 40 kg/ha) with four replications was realized. For both experiment years, early sowing time (from beginning to the middle of April) led to the highest fruit yield which was related to the higher number of fruits per plant and higher thousand fruit weight. Later sowing time caused significantly lower fruit yield. Essential oil concentration of anise fruits was related to the time period from flower beginning to the fully mature stage. A shortening of this time period caused a significantly lower essential oil concentration, while the thousand fruit weight of anise was not affected by the shortening of this time period. The highest fruit yield was related to a sowing density of 8 to 10 kg/ha and to a corresponding plant density of 40 to 60 plants/m(2). Higher sowing density resulted in high plant density, but reduced branches, umbels and fruits per plant and led to lower fruit yield. The essential oil concentration of anise fruits was not affected by sowing density. The composition of essential oil was analyzed by GC and GC/MS. No marked influence of sowing time or sowing density on the composition of anise essential oil was estimated. In conclusion, for successful anise cultivation in Germany, it is essential to sow aniseed as early as possible in April with a sowing density of 8 to 10 kg/ha and to reach a plant density of 40 to 60 plants/m(2).

Harvard Citation style: Yan, F., Beyer, E., Azizi, A. and Honermeier, B. (2011) Effects of sowing time and sowing density on fruit yield, essential oil concentration and composition of anise (Pimpinella anisum L.) under field conditions in Germany, Zeitschrift für Arznei- und Gewürzpflanzen, 16(1), pp. 26-33

APA Citation style: Yan, F., Beyer, E., Azizi, A., & Honermeier, B. (2011). Effects of sowing time and sowing density on fruit yield, essential oil concentration and composition of anise (Pimpinella anisum L.) under field conditions in Germany. Zeitschrift für Arznei- und Gewürzpflanzen. 16(1), 26-33.