Growth, Yield and Oil components of thymus vulgaris - Ozean ...

Ozean Journal of Applied Sciences 3(2), 2010
Ozean Journal of Applied Sciences 3(2), 2010
ISSN 1943-2429
© 2010 Ozean Publication
PRODUCTIVITY AND OIL QUALITY OF THYMUS VULGARIS L. UNDER ORGANIC
FERTILIZATION CONDITIONS
S.F. Hendawy, Azza A*. Ezz El-Din, Eman E. Aziz and E.A. Omer
Cultivation and Production of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Dep., National Research Centre, Dokki,
12622, Giza, Egypt.
*E-mail address for correspondence: azzaamin2001@hotmail.com
__________________________________________________________________________________
Abstract: In two successive seasons, the influence of different types of organic fertilizers on growth,
yield and oil constituents of thyme plants was studied. Results revealed that 20m 3 compost fed -1
combined with 10 L fed -1 of compost tea and /or (feldspar, rock phosphate at the level of 150 kg fed -1 )
were superior in most cases of growth characters, yield and oil percentage of Thymus vulgaris. The
main components of thyme plants were thymol, -cymene and myrecene. The highest value of
oxygenated compounds (59.90%) was obtained from plants received compost 20L.fed -1 + rock
phosphate 150 kg fed -1 compared with control treatment (54.21%).
Key words: Thymus vulgaris L., organic fertilization, rock phosphate, feldspar, cattle manure, sheep
manure, compost and compost tea, essential oil, GLC.
_________________________________________________________________________________
INTRODUCTION
Medicinal plants have an important value in the socio-cultural, spiritual and medicinal use in rural and
tribal lives of the developing countries (Shinwari, 2005). Thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.) is a pleasant
smelling perennial shrub, which grows in several regions in the world (Davis, 1982). It is native to the
Western Mediterranean region and southern Italy. It is commonly known that the composition of the
essential oils determines the specific aroma of plants and flavor of condiments (Martins et al, 1999).
As a valuable medicinal plant, Thymus vulgaris possesses antispasmodic, antiseptic, expectorant,
carminative and antioxidative properties (Omidbaigi and Nejad 2000 and Dapkevicius et al, 2002). The
main constituents of thyme include thymol, carvacrol and flavonoids often though to have antibacterial,
anti-flatulent and anti-worm characteristic (Barnes et al, 2002).
Thymol has anti-fungal activity against number of species including Cryptococcus neoformans
Aspergillus, Sapralegnia and Zygorohynchus sp. (WHO, 1999, and Zambonelli et al, 2004).
Characteristic compounds of T.vulgaris essential oil have been established, namely: Thymol (44.4 –
58.1 %), ρ -cymene (9.1-28.5%), γ-terpinene (6.9 – 18.9%) and carvacrol (2.4-4.2%) (Baranauaskiene
et al, 2003 Eissa et al, 2005, Aziz et al, 2008 and Ezz El-Din et al, 2009).
Recently, a great attention was paid towards the application of bio-organic farming to avoid the heavy
use of agrochemical that resulted in numerous of environmental troubles (Lampkin, 1999). The
coincident application of organic manures and biofertilizers is frequently recommended for improving
soil properties and obtaining clean agricultural products (Gomaa, 1995).
203

Proponents of organic agriculture have asserted that plant grown with biological sources of nutrients
such as manure and composted organic waste are less susceptible to insects than conventionally grown
plants (Lotter, 2003). Moreover, organic matter plays an important role in the chemical behavior of
several metals in soils throughout its active group (flavonic and humic acids) which have the ability to
retain the metal in complex and chelate forms (Abou El-Magd et al, 2006).
Phosphorus (P) enhances seed germination, bud set, aids in seed formation and hastens maturity
(Espinosa et al, 1999). It is added to cultivated soil in different forms as mineral phosphate fertilizer or
organic manure. The soluble P in these fertilizers is quickly turns into unavailable form for plant
nutrition and this problem is well known in Egyptian soils specially those rich in calcium carbonate
(El-Gamal, 1996).
Potassium is a key essential plant nutrient. It plays an important role in growth, yield and quality of
crops. Potassium acts as catalyst for many enzymatic processes, regulates water use in the plant
(osmoregulation), which maintains high daily cell turgor pressure and controls the opening and closing
of stomata (Somida, 2002).
However, due to the economic considerations, the cost of applying phosphate and potassium fertilizers
is becoming more expensive. Thus, the use of alternative materials such as rock phosphate as a source
of phosphorus fertilizer and feldspar as a source of potassium is more important than dependency on
costly commercial fertilizers. On the other hand, rock phosphate has a low grade of P content, also
feldspar is not available for direct application as plant nutrient (Styriakova et al, 2003 and Basak and
Biswas, 2009).
The objective of this study was to determine the growth, yield and chemical composition of Thymus
vulgaris plant as influenced by the application of different sources of organic fertilization in order to
improve the yield of herb and essential oil content.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Two field experiments were carried out at the Experimental Farm of National Research Centre (NRC),
Cairo, Egypt during two successive seasons (2006/2007 and 2007/2008) to study the influence of
different types of organic fertilizers on growth, yield and oil constituents of thyme plants. The
individual and interactions of applied treatments were as follows:
1) Control.
2) Rock phosphate at the rate of 150 kg fed. -1 (feddan =4200m 2 )
3) Feldspar at the rate of 150 kg/fed.
4) Cattle manure at the rate of 10m 3 /fed.
5) Cattle manure + rock phosphate.
6) Cattle manure + feldspar.
7) Sheep manure at the rate of 10m 3 /fed.
8) Sheep manure + rock phosphate
9) Sheep manure + feldspar.
10) Compost at the dose of 20m 3 /fed.
11) Compost + rock phosphate.
12) Compost + feldspar.
13) Compost + compost tea (20 L./fed.).
14) Compost + compost tea + feldspar.
Table(1) shows the chemical analysis of used compost. Table(2) shows the soluble macro and micronutrients
of used compost tea. Microbial population of organic compost tea were presented in Table
(3). Chemical components of used sheep manure are shown in Table (4). Table (5) shows the
physiochemical characters of cattle manure applied to thyme plants.
204

Seeds of thyme were kindly provided by "SEKEM" company and planted in the nursery on 15 th of
January. The seedlings of thyme plants were transplanted from the nursery to the permanent soil in
March.
All treatments under investigation were arranged in a complete Randomized Blook Design (CRBD)
with four replicates. The experimental unit (plot area) was 10m 2 . The amount of the different types of
organic fertilizers was divided into two portions, the first one before transplanting except compost tea
which added after a month from sowing. Thyme plants received the second portion after 3 months from
the first addition.
The plants were harvested in two separated cuts (in June and November) in both seasons. At each cut,
plant height (cm), number of branches, fresh and dry weight of herb and oil% were recorded. The
statistical analysis of the obtained data was carried out according to Snedecor and Cochran (1990)
using L.S.D. at 5% level.
Quantitative determination of thyme essential oil of the different treatments was achieved by Hydrodistillation
according to (Guenther, 1961). Hundred grams of the fresh herb of each treatment was
subjected to hydrodistillation for 3 hours after water boiling till no further increase in the oil was
observed. Essential oil percentage was calculated (v/w) and the obtained essential oil was dehydrated
over anhydrous sodium sulfate, then kept at the refrigerator till GLC analysis.
GLC analysis of the volatile oil of each treatment was performed separately with a Hewlett-Packard
model 5890, a fused silica capillary column (Carbowax 20M measuring 20 m x 0.32 mm internal
diameter, thickness of 0.17 μm) was used. The temperature program adopted was maintained at 75 o C
for 5 min. with an increase of 4 o C min -1 until 220 o C (10min). The carrier gas was Helium and the
working flow rate was 1.0ml/min, with a detector of 9144 HP. The identification of the compounds of
the essential oil was achieved by matching their retention times with those of authentic samples
injected under the same conditions.
205

Table (1): Chemical Analysis of Compost
Constituent
Value
Bulk Density kg/m 3 510
Moisture Content % 18.2
Electrical conductivity ds/m 9.65
pH 7.6
Total Organic Carbon % 24.6
Total Organic Matter % 42.41
Total Nitrogen % 1.35
C/N Ratio 18.22
NH4-N (mg/kg) 880
NH3-N (mg/kg) 450
Total Phosphorus % 1.6
Available Phosphorus (mg/kg) 410
Total Potassium % 2.3
Available potassium (mg/kg) 620
Fe (ppm) 960
Zn (ppm) 280
Mn (ppm) 320
Cu (ppm) 140
Nematodes
Weeds Germination
Parasites
Radish Germination test 98%
Pathogenic
nil
nil
nil
nil
Table (2): Soluble macro and micro-nutrients of used compost tea.
Turned Compost Tea
E.C
Macro and micro-nutrients (ppm)
pH
ds/m
N P K Ca Mg Fe Zn
0.89 6.5 250 8 206 87 116 66 7
Table (3): Microbial population of organic compost tea.
Bacterial Plate count (CFU/ml) 7.1 x 10 7
*
Bacterial Direct count (cell/ml) 6.4 x 10 8
Spore forming bacteria (CFU/ml) 7 x 10 4
Total fungi (CFU/ml) 1.1 x 10 4
Actinomycetes (CFU/ml) 2.8 X 10 5
(CFU) = Colony Forming Unit
206

Contents
Sheep
Manure
O.M
%
pH
Table (4) : Chemical analysis of sheep manure.
EC
(m.mohs)
N
%
P
%
K
%
Fe
ppm
Mn
ppm
Zn
ppm
Cu
ppm
Pb
ppm
Ni
ppm
33 7.1 4.6 1.78 0.62 1.9 280 247 88 10 31.48 17.11
Contents
Cattle
Manure
Bulk%
density
Table (5) : Physiochemical characters of cattle manure.
Moisture
%
E.C.
ds/m
pH
O.C%
O.M
%
Ash%
T.N%
C/N
ratio
62.7 52.3 4.2 8.6 19.7 34.0 66.0 1.37 14.4
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The effect of different organic fertilization treatments on growth parameters and essential oil of thyme
for the two cuts of the first season (2007) is shown in Table (6). All parameters under investigation
significantly responded to all of the applied treatments except plant height and dry weight of both
cuttings. In the first cut, the differences between rock phosphate and feldspar added alone were
insignificant except for essential oil percentage. In the second cut, these differences were significant
except number of branches.
Although potassium is the only essential plant element that is not a constituent of any plant part, it is a
key nutrient for plant growth. It acts as catalyst for many enzymatic processes. It also controls the
opening and closing of stomata which affects transpirational cooling and carbon dioxide uptake for
photosynthesis (Mikkelsen, 2008).
The efficiency of rock phosphate and feldspar together was mentioned by (Shafeek et al 2005) on pea
plants. They found that all growth values had their peaks with addition of mixture of natural rock
phosphate (7.5% P 2 O 5 ) and potassium (Feldspar 11% K 2 O) compared with either alone.
The differences resulted from the application of cattle manure and sheep manure had reached the 5%
level of significancy for plant height and essential oil% in the first cut and all parameters in the second
one.
207

Ozean Journal of Applied Sciences 3(2), 2010
Treatment
Table (6) Effect of different types of organic fertilization on the growth and essential oil% of Thymus vulgaris in first season
Plant
height
(cm)
Branches
number
First cut Second Cut Total
Dry
Fresh Dry
Fresh
Essential Plant height Branches
Essential
weight
weight weight
weight
oil% (cm) number
oil %
(g/plant)
(g/plant) (g/plant)
(g/plant)
Fresh
weight
(g/plant)
(2007)
Dry
weight
(g/plant)
Control 18.75 10.00 29.51 10.83 1.44 21.50 14.75 40.45 14.86 1.48 69.96 25.69
Rock P. 19.00 14.25 34.63 11.37 1.64 20.50 21.50 45.61 15.28 1.67 80.24 26.65
Feldspar 19.75 14.25 37.09 12.21 1.58 22.50 20.25 62.72 21.45 1.56 99.81 33.66
Cattle manure 20.00 15.00 51.93 17.00 1.78 19.50 20.75 40.71 13.85 1.77 92.63 30.85
Cattle m.+ Rock P. 20.50 16.00 51.00 16.65 1.93 18.00 25.00 57.61 19.03 1.96 108.61 35.68
Cattle m.+ Felds. 25.25 16.00 58.03 19.54 1.86 26.75 19.75 62.95 21.23 1.88 120.98 40.77
Sheep manure 23.50 16.25 50.20 17.13 1.88 22.00 27.00 51.58 17.78 1.94 101.78 34.91
Sheep m.+ Rock P. 24.00 15.50 60.79 21.02 1.95 22.00 20.25 81.58 27.67 1.97 142.37 48.69
Sheep m.+ Felds 24.50 16.75 60.12 20.61 1.92 26.50 22.25 66.66 22.92 1.90 126.78 43.53
Compost 23.75 15.25 76.25 26.59 1.94 21.25 19.25 69.78 24.07 1.97 146.03 50.66
Compost + Rock P. 26.50 16.25 70.05 24.42 2.05 24.25 21.00 84.66 29.05 2.07 154.71 53.48
Comp. + Felds. 21.75 15.75 75.48 26.49 1.99 20.25 23.25 90.45 31.16 2.04 165.93 57.65
Comp. + comp. tea 25.75 17.25 73.98 25.11 2.06 22.75 23.75 89.29 30.93 2.10 163.27 56.04
Comp+ comp. tea + 26.75 19.00 87.18 29.06 2.13 24.75 26.00 85.69 29.06 2.22 172.87 58.12
Rock P.
Comp+ comp. tea +
Felds.
27.25 18.50 84.21 28.07 2.08 27.50 23.75 89.33 30.09 2.18 173.54 58.16
L.S.D. 5% 1.29 1.11 4.05 1.65 0.06 1.35 1.09 4.95 1.54 0.08 6.08 2.36
- 208 -

Ozean Journal of Applied Sciences 3(2), 2010
Sheep manure analysis showed its macro and micro nutrients content which provide thyme plants with
their requirements from these elements. Iron (Fe) is necessary for photosynthesis and is present as an
enzyme cofactor in plant. Zinc (Zn) plays an essential role in DNA transcription and internodal
elongation (stem growth).
The increase in growth parameters resulting by cattle and sheep manure may be attributed to enhancing
soil aggregation, soil aeration, increasing water holding capacity and offers good environmental
conditions for root system (Abou El-Magd, 2006). Several investigators reported similar promotion
effect of cattle and sheep manure on various plants, i.e, Van Hiep and Preston, 2006 on Ipomoea
aquatica (water spinach), (Ewulo et al, 2007 on peper, Jahan et al, 2008) on Cucurbita pepo
(Schneider squash), and Azzaz et al, 2009 on fennel. The combination between compost, compost tea,
rock phosphate and feldspar gave the higher values of different parameters comparing with other
treatments. The maximum values of number of branches, fresh and dry weights and essential oil
percentage in the 1 first. cut were recorded with application of compost at the rate of 20m 3 fed -1 .+
compost tea (20L. fed -1 .) + rock phosphate at 150kg fed -1 .
Beneficial effect of compost tea on plant may due to its direct nutrients supplying and/or its microbial
functions (Khalil, 2000, Khalil et al 2002, Edris et al 2003 and Hendawy, 2008) Moreover,
phosphorus is an important nutritional element in metabolic processes and as a main constituent of
energy compounds, nucleic acids, phospholipids and co-enzymes (Hafez and Mahmoud, 2008). This
could be explained the superiority of treatment (compost + compost tea + rock phosphate) which
represented both organic fertilizers types affected growth characters of thyme plants.
Essential oil percentage tended to increase with application of organic fertilizers either cattle manure,
sheep manure or compost. It ranged from 1.44% (control) to 2.13% (compost + compost tea + rock
phosphate) in the first cut and from 1.48% (control) to 2.22 % for the same treatment in the second cut.
Growth and essential oil percentage of Thymus vulgaris plants of two cuts of the second season (2008)
as influenced by different types of organic fertilization are shown in Table (7). The same trends were
almost observed in both cuttings for plant growth characters which increased significantly with applied
treatments compared with control except plant height in the first cut.
Individual application of rock phosphate and feldspar were significant in both cuts except number of
branches in the first. cut. The response of growth characters to P and K followed the same pattern of
change as the obtained by many researches (Murugan et al 2002 on chilli, Akintokum et al 2003 on
soybean, and Ezzat et al 2005 on lentil).
Cattle and sheep manure rates added to thyme plants resulted in significant differences in most of
parameters except plant height in the first cut. As shown in Tables (4&5), that the content of both sheep
and cattle manures from organic matter reached 33% and 34%, respectively. It acts as a buffer against
pH change, protects plants from heavy metals and salt toxicity and support micro-organisms that
recycle nutrients and soil formation (Varanini and pinton 1995). Therefore, the response of thyme
plants to sheep and cattle would be much superior. The best
- 209 -

Ozean Journal of Applied Sciences 3(2), 2010
Treatment
Plant
height
(cm)
Table (7) Effect of different types of organic fertilization on the growth and essential oil% of Thymus vulgaris in second season
Branches
number
First cut Second Cut Total
Dry
Fresh Dry
Fresh
Essential Plant height Branches
Essential
weight
weight weight
weight
oil% (cm) number
oil %
(g/plant)
(g/plant) (g/plant)
(g/plant)
Fresh
weight
(g/plant)
(2008)
Dry
weight
(g/plant)
Control 21 14 41.60 16.00 1.49 18.50 15.20 42.16 15.11 1.52 83.76 31.11
Rock P. 20 20 46.31 15.44 1.68 21.60 20.90 48.50 17.38 1.73 94.81 32.82
Feldspar 22 19 62.22 20.74 1.61 23.10 21.80 60.30 22.75 1.64 122.52 43.49
Cattle manure 20 22 40.35 14.04 1.80 20.80 22.50 45.17 16.19 1.85 85.52 30.32
Cattle m.+ Rock P. 18 24 56.40 18.80 1.95 19.00 27.00 80.30 28.78 2.01 136.70 47.58
Cattle m.+ Felds. 25 25 61.35 20.45 1.84 25.30 18.40 66.90 23.98 1.90 128.25 44.43
Sheep manure 21 27 50.30 16.77 1.92 22.60 25.00 55.38 19.85 1.92 105.68 36.62
Sheep m.+ Rock P. 23 21 78.64 26.11 1.94 22.00 21.50 85.46 29.99 1.95 164.10 56.10
Sheep m.+ Felds 25 23 64.21 21.40 1.90 26.70 23.40 68.90 24.70 1.92 133.11 46.10
Compost 20 19 68.73 22.91 1.98 20.16 19.00 74.15 26.58 2.05 142.88 49.49
Compost + Rock P. 25 20 88.30 29.54 2.11 25.31 21.30 85.80 30.75 2.10 174.10 60.29
Comp. + Felds. 20 24 85.32 28.44 2.03 21.22 23.50 89.60 32.11 2.10 174.92 60.55
Comp. + comp. tea 22 25 84.40 28.47 2.05 23.60 23.00 88.40 31.68 2.15 172.80 60.15
Comp+ comp. tea + 26 25 85.11 28.37 2.17 25.12 28.60 83.90 30.07 2.35 169.01 58.44
Rock P.
Comp+ comp. tea +
Felds.
27 24 89.60 29.99 2.08 27.40 24.50 87.60 33.06 2.28 177.20 63.05
L.S.D. 5% 1.24 1.05 3.88 1.42 0.054 1.39 1.01 3.94 1.46 0.043 7.1 2.02
- 210 -

Ozean Journal of Applied Sciences 3(2), 2010
treatment which gave the highest means of recorded characters was the combination of compost at the
level of 20m 3 fed -1 + (compost tea 20 L.fed -1 . and Feldspar at 150kg fed -1 .). Potassium specific role in
plant includes protein synthesis, osmoregulation, photosynthate translocation, internal cation and anion
balance and enzyme activation (Shafeek et al, 2005).
Generally, application of different treatments increased the essential oil percent comparing to untreated
plants. The essential oil% ranged from 1.49% (control) to 2.14% for treated plants with compost +
compost tea + rock phosphate in the first cut and from 1.52% to 2.35% for the same treatment in the
second cut.
The effect of different fertilization treatments on the main constituents of thyme essential oil is shown
in Table (8). The European Pharmacopoeia (EP-2002) has established specifications for some
components constituting thyme essential oil and mentioned that it should contain 36.0-55.0% thymol,
15.0-28.0% ρ -cymene, 5.0-10.0% terpinene and 1.0-4.0%carvacrol. The results obtained in this study
ensured that all types of organic fertilization treatments led to an oil composition complied with the EP
specification ranges. Sixteen compounds were detected with GLC in the essential oil of all treatments
and their total ranged from 92.42 to 97.59 %. The major compound was identified as thymol in all
treatments. Similar findings had been obtained by ( Eissa et al, 2005, Aziz et al, 2008 and Ezz El-Din et
al, 2009 on Thymus vulgaris L. plants. )
- 211 -

Ozean Journal of Applied Sciences 3(2), 2010
Compounds
Treat.
Table (8) Effect of different types of organic fertilization on the main constituents of the essential oil% of Thymus vulgaris during second season (2008).
Control
Rock
P.
Feldspa
r
Cattle
manure
Cattle
m. +
Rock P.
Cattl
e
m.+
Felds
.
Sheep
manure
-Pinene 3.22 2.16 2.85 3.10 3.42 3.66 3.95 1.16 2.12 3.65 3.44 1.04 3.97 3.57 3.89
Myrecen 3.46 2.18 4.18 4.60 4.80 5.30 5.22 5.65 4.44 4.80 4.75 3.75 4.29 3.75 3.56
ρ -cymene 27.34 29.18 26.56 26.12 25.76 23.1 26.15 28.17 29.43 27.65 26.44 30.50 25.10 24.50 26.49
4
-Terpinene 2.60 1.80 1.50 1..94 1.99 1.73 1.60 1.95 2.20 2.60 1.40 2.30 2.54 2.80 2.90
Linalool 4.10 4.30 4.80 3.60 4.50 4.70 4.20 4.40 4.50 2.60 2.5 2.70 2.80 3.10 2.90
Camphor 0.48 0.55 0.54 0.61 0.88 0.69 0.67 0.52 0.75 0.94 0.95 0.87 0.96 1.02 1.08
Boroneol 3.06 3.03 2.95 2.58 2.30 2.77 2.34 2.89 2.37 2.65 2.12 2.14 2.05 2.08 2.22
Terpinol 2.02 2.13 1.35 1.74 0.24 1.12 0.68 0.67 0.54 0.90 0.90 0.90 0.70 0.60 0.30
Thymol 44.12 48.17 47.36 47.11 48.22 48.5 45.14 48.65 46.61 49.30 50.50 49.30 49.10 52.10 49.70
6
Carvacrol 0.18 0.39 0.64 0.85 0.94 1.12 0.14 0.53 0.22 0.46 1.16 0.35 0.30 0.28 0.27
-Bourb onene 0.04 0.07 0.08 0.11 0.18 0.09 0.06 0.03 0.26 0.31 0.12 0.10 0.09 0.12 0.14
transcaryophyllene
0.65 0.73 0.74 0.65 0.66 0.31 0.42 0.53 0.64 0.68 0.75 0.75 0.80 0.90 1.01
Cadinene 0.52 0.65 0.39 0.46 1.25 1.33 1.49 1.38 1.16 1.12 1.70 1.50 1.20 0.90 0.90
Germacrene-D 0.42 0.45 0.55 0.54 0.63 0.74 0.62 0.35 0.49 0.48 0.39 0.64 0.21 0.47 0.63
Caryophyllen 0.11 0.32 0.36 0.25 0.25 0.28 0.16 0.42 0.43 0.22 0.25 0.25 0.30 0.29 0.27
oxide
Carotol 0.10 0.35 0.25 0.27 0.34 0.24 0.25 0.11 0.15 0.18 0.22 0.29 0.23 0.27 0.26
Non-oxygenated 38.21 37.15 36.77 37.41 38.51 36.2
1
Oxygenated 54.21 59.31 58.33 57.12 57.85 59.5
7
Total 92.42 96.46 95.1 94.53 96.36 95.7
8
Sheep
m.+
Rock
P.
Shee
p m.+
Felds
Compos
t
Compost
+ Rock
P.
Comp.
+
Felds.
Comp.
+
comp.
tea
Comp+
comp.
tea +
Rock P.
Comp+
comp. tea
+ Felds.
39.45 39.19 40.48 40.98 38.87 40.48 38.11 36.89 39.38
53.60 58.22 55.83 57.56 58.72 56.90 56.53 59.86 57.14
93.09 97.41 96.31 95.54 97.59 97.38 94.64 96.75 96.52
- 212 -

It showed its minimum percent (44.12%) in the essential oil of plants with no fertilization, while its
maximum percent (52.1%) was recorded in plants fertilized with compost 20m 3 + compost tea 20L.fed -
1 . + rock phosphate 150kg fed -1 . The second main compound was found to be -cymene in all
treatments and ranged from 23.14 % with application of cattle manure 10m 3 fed -1 . to 30.50 % with
compost 20m 3 fed -1 . + feldspar at the rate of 150kg fed -1 . All fertilization treatments increased the
content of thymol in the essential oil of thyme comparing with plants of control.
Myrecene occupied the third position according to the percentage of essential oil components of thyme
plants (5.30%) followed by linalool in a value of 4.80%.
The promoting effect of organic manure on essential oil % was emphasized by (Abdou and Mahamoud,
(2003), Mohamed and Ahmed (2003) on fennel and Heikal (2005) and Edris et al (2009) on thyme
plants.)
The total oxygenated compounds ranged from 52.21% to 59.90 % of the identified compounds. The
maximum content of oxygenated compounds was found in the essential oil of plants received compost
(20m 3 fed -1 .) + compost tea (20L. fed -1 .) + rock phosphate (150kg fed -1 .).
In this connection, (Ateia et al 2009) reported that the highest value of oxygenated compounds of
thyme grown is sandy soil was obtained from 30m 3 of compost combined with 10m 3 sheep manure
treatment (82.84%) compared with control (42.69%). The non-oxygenated compounds started with
36.21% and ended by 40.98%.
We recommend the fertilization of thyme with different organic manure fertilizers in the form of
compost 20m 3 fed. -1 + compost tea 20 L. fed -1 . and/or (rock phosphate, feldspar at the level of 150kg
fed. -1 "feddan = 4200m 2 ") to give the maximum values of growth characters, yield and oil percentage
of Thymus vulgaris plants.
213

REFERENCES
Abdou, M.A. and A. H. Mahmoud, 2003. Growth and oil production of Foeniculum vulgare, Mill. 2:
The effect of number of irrigation and organic fertilizers. J. Agric. Sci. Mansoura Univ., 28
(5): 3857-3868.
Abou El-Magd, M.M., A.M., El-Bassiony and Z.F. Fawzy, 2006. Effect of organic manure with or
without chemical fertilizers on growth, yield and quality of some varieties of Broccoli plants.
J. Appl. Sci. Res. 2(10): 791-798.
Akintokum, O.O., M.T., Adetunji and P.O., Akintokun. 2003. Phosphorus availability to soybean from
an indigenous phosphate rock sample in soils from southwest Nigeria. Nutr. Cyclagroeco,
65:35-41.
Ateia, E.M., Y.A.H. Osman and A.E.A.H. Meawad. 2009. Effect of organic fertilization on yield and
active constituents of Thymus vulgaris L. under North Sinai conditions. Res. J. Agric. & Biol.
Sci., 5(4): 555-565.
Aziz, E.E., S.F. Hendawy, A.A. Ezz El-Din and E.A. Omer, 2008. Effect of soil type and irrigation
intervals on plant growth, essential oil yield and constituents of Thymus vulgaris plant. Am.
Euras. J. Agric. & Environ. Sci., 4 (4): 443-450.
Azzaz, N.A., E.A. Hassan and E.H. Hamad, 2009. The chemical constituent and vegetative and
yielding characteristics of fennel plants treated with organic and bio-fertilizer. Aust. J. Basic &
Appl. Sci. 3(2): 579-587.
Baranauskiene, R., P.R. Venskutonis, P. Viskelis and E. Dambrauskiene, 2003. Influence of nitrogen
fertilizers on the yield and composition of thyme (Thymus vulgaris). J. of Agric. and Food
Chem., 51 (26): 7751-7758.
Barnes, J., L.A. Anderson and J.D. Phillipson, 2002. Herbal Medicines. A Guide for Healthcare Profe,
Second Edition, London: Pharmaceutical Pres.
Basak, B.B. and D.R. Biswas, 2009. Influence of potassium solubilizing microorganism (Bacillus
mucilaginosus) and waste mica on potassium uptake dynamics by sudan grass (Sorghum
vulgare Pers.) grown under two Alfisols. Plant and Soil, 317 (1-2), 235-255.
Dapkevicius, A., V.T. A. Van Beek, G.P. Lelyveld, A. Van Veldhuizen, A. DeGroot, J.P.H. Linssen,
and R. Venskutonis, 2002. Isolation and structural elucidation of radical scavengers from
Thymus vulgaris leaves. J. Nat. Prod. 65(6) : 892-896.
Davis, P.H., 1992. Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands. vol. 7:320-354 pp. University Pres.
Edinburgh.
Edris, A. E, A. Shalaby and H.M. Fadel, 2003. Effect of organic agriculture practices on the volatile
aroma components of some essential oil plants growing in Egypt. II. Sweet marjoram
(Origanum marijorana L.)essential oil. Flavour and Fragr J. 18: 345-351.
Eissa, A.M, A. F. Abou-Haddid and E.A. Omer, 2005. effect of saline water on the dry matter
production, nutritional status and essential oil content of thyme (Thymus vulgaris) grown in
sandy soil. Egypt. J. of Horti 31(2): 181-193.
El-Gamal, A.M. and G. Abdel – Nasser. 1996. Response of sweet potato crop to phosphorus and
potassium fertilization rates. The fourth Arabic Conf. for Hort. Crops, 25-28 March. Minia
Univ., Egypt. Part I, Vegetable Crops, pp. 471-488.
Espinosa, M., B.L. Turner and P.M. Haygarth. 1999. Pre-concentration and separation of trace
phosphorus compounds in soil leachate. J. Environ. Qual., 29:1497-1504.
Ewulo, B.S., K.O. Hassan and S.O. Ojeniyl, 2007. Comparative effect of cowdung manure on soil and
leaf nutrient and yield of pepper. Inter. J. Agric. Res., 21 (12): 1043-1048.
Ezz El-Din, A.A., E.E. Aziz, S.F. Hendawy and E.A. Omer, 2009. Response of Thymus vulgaris L. to
salt stress and Alar (B9) in newly reclaimed soil. J. App. Sci. Res., 5 (12): 2165-2170.
Ezzat, Z.M., K.M., Khalil and A.A., Khalil, 2005. Effect of natural potassium fertilizer on yield , yield
components and seed composition of lentil in old and new reclaimed lands. Egypt. J. App.
Sci., 20: 80-92.
214

Gomaa, A.M., 1995. Response of certain vegetable crops to biofertilization. Ph.D. Thesis, Fac. Agric.,
Cairo Univ.
Guenther, E. 1961. "The Essential Oils". Van Nostrand Comp. Inc. New York, Vol. III, pp.448.
Hafez, M.A. and A.R. Mahmoud, 2009. Effect of natural and chemical phosphorus fertilization as
individually and/or mixed on the productivity of eggplant. Res. J. Agric. & Biol. Sci.,
5(4):344-348.
Heikal, A.M., 2005. Effect of organic and bio-fertilization on the growth, production and composition
of thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.) plants. M.Sci. Thesis, Fac. Agric., Cairo Univ. Egypt.
Hendawy, S.F., 2008. Comparative study of organic and mineral fertilization on Plantago arenaria
plant. J. Appl. Sci. Res. 4 (5): 500-506.
Jahan, M., A. Koocheki, M. Nassiri and F. Dehghanipur, 2008. The effects of different cattle manure
levels and branch management methods on organic production of Cucubita pepo L., 16 th
IFOAM Organic World Congress, 6-16.
Khalil, M. Y, N.Y. Naguib and S.E. El-Sherbeny, 2002. Response of Tagetes erecta L. to compost and
foliar application of some microelements. Arab. Univ. J. Agric. Sci., Ain Shams Univ., Cairo
10:939-964.
Khalil, M.Y., 2000. Influence of compost and foliar fertilization on growth and chemical composition
of Rosmarinus officinalis. Egypt. J. Appl. Sci. 17:684-699.
Lampkin, N.H. 1999. Organic farming in the European Union: overview, Policies and perspectives.
Invited keynote paper in : Organic Farming in the European Union Perspectives for the 21 st .
Century. Proceedings of EU Commission.
Lotter, D.W., 2003. Organic Agriculture. J. of sustain. agric. 21: 59-128.
Martins, A.P., L.R., Salgueiro, R., Vila, F., Tomi, S. canigueral, J. Cassanova, A. Proensa Da Cunba
and T. Adzet, 1999. Composition of the essential oils of Ocimum canum, O.gratissimum and
O.minimum. Planta Med., 65:187-189.
Mikkelsen, R., 2008. Managing potassium for organic crop production. Better Crops 92(2): 26-29.
Mohamed, A.A. and M.E. Ahmed, 2003. A comparative study on the effect of sugarcane filter mud,
sheep and chicken manures used for fertilization of sweet fennel (Foeniculum vulgare, L.).
Minia J. Agric. Res. & Dev., 22 (3): 221-234.
Murugan, M., S. Backyiarani, A.J. Kumar and A. Subbiah, 2002. Yield and nutrient content of chilli
(Capsicum annuum) in response to sources of P and levels of P and N. India. J. of Spices and
Aromatic Crops, 11 (1): 13-17.
Omidbaigi, R. and R.A. Nejad, 2000. The influence of nitrogen fertilizer and harvested time on the
productivity of Thymus vulgaris L. Inter. J. Horti. Sci., 6 (3): 43-46.
Shafeek, M.R., O.A. H., El-Zeiny and M. E., Ahmed, 2005. Effect of natural phosphate and potassium
fertilizer on growth, yield and seed composition of pea plant in new reclaimed soil. Asian J.
Plant Sci. 4 (6): 608-612.
Shinwari, Z., 2005. Medicinal plants research in the 21 st . century. International symposium Medicinal
Plants: Linkages beyond national boundaries., (Eds) Shinwari, Z., T. Watanabe and M.Ali,
pp.12-16.
Snedecor, G.W. and W.G. Cochran, 1990. Statistical Methods. pp:369-375. 11 th . Ed. Iowa State
College Press. Ames, Iowa, U.S.
Somida, E.G. 2002. Effect of organic manure nitrogen and potassium fertilization on growth, flowering
and chemical constituents of marigold plants (Tagetes minuta L.). M. Sci. Thesis, of Agri.,
Cairo Univ. pp. 156.
Styriakova, I., I. Styriak, I. Galko, D. Hradil and P. Bezdicka, 2003. The release of iron-bearing
minerals and dissolution of feldspar by heterotrophic bacteria of Bacillus species. Ceramics
silicaty, 47 (1): 20-26.
Van Hiep, N. and T.R. Preston, 2006. Effect of cattle manure and biodigester effluent levels on growth
and composition of water spinach. Livestock Research for Rural Development, 18 (4): 1-8.
215

Varanini, Z. and R. Pinton, 1995. Humic substances and plant nutrition. Progress in Botany, (56): 79-
117.
World Health Organization (WHO), 1999. Monographs on Selected Medicinal Plants. WHO, Geneva.
Zambonelli, A, A. Z. D' Aulerio, A. Severi, S. Benvenuti, L. Maggi and A. Bianchi, 2004. Chemical
composition and fungicidal activity of commercial essential oils of Thymus vulgaris L. J.
Essent. Oil Res., 16 (1): 69-74.
216