EFFECT OF SOME BIOSTIMULANTS ON GROWTH, YIELD AND VOLATILE OIL CONTENT OF PIMPINELLA ANISUM L.

This experiment was carried out to investigate the effects of liquorice, chitosan and active dry yeast as biostimulants on the growth, fruit and volatile oil production of anise. Plants were foliar sprayed with liquorice at 20 g/L, chitosan at 400 mg/L and active dry yeast at 6 g/L. Untreated plants were sprayed with tap water. The results revealed that foliar spraying with liquorice, chitosan or dry yeast significantly enhanced the growth characters of anise compared to the control in both the experimental seasons. Additionally, the fruit yield attributes were also considerably improved due to any biostimulant relative to untreated plants. Application of liquorice, chitosan or dry yeast not only enhanced the volatile oil yield but also increased the main components in volatile oil. Besides, photosynthetic pigments, total carbohydrates and N, P, K percentages were considerably increased due to the biostimulants treatments. Generally, the most effective biostimulant was chitosan followed by active dry yeast in two experimental seasons. To stimulate the growth and increase the quantity and quality of fruits and volatile oil yield of anise, plants should be foliar sprayed with either chitosan at 400 mg/L or active dry yeast at 6 g/L.