Electronic Journal of Biology

Investigation of Seed Yield and Oil Quality of Black Cumin (Nigella sativa L.) Ecotypes Cultivated in Isfahan Province

Black cumin (Nigella sativa L.) is an annual plant belongs the family Ranunculaceae, it grows to 20–40 cm tall and about eight species in Iran, also known as the black cumin seeds or small fennel have tremendous potential for cultivation and is native in Europe, Middle East and Western Asia. This experiment has been conducted in research field of Islamic Azad University, Isfahan (Khorasgan) branch, in center Iran, during spring 2013. Experiment was planned based on a randomized complete block design with three replications. Seed of ten ecotypes viz; Semirom, Zawareh, Golpayegan, Fereydan, Meymeh, Kashan, Khansar, Daran, Ardestan and Isfahan were sown. All measured characters (number of branches, seed yield (g/m2), harvest index (%), capsule length (cm), number of capsules, seed fill speed (g/m2), essential oil content (%) and essential oil yield (g/m2)) were subjected to the analysis of variance. Analysis of variance revealed significant difference among different black cumin ecotypes for number of branches, seed yield, harvest index, number of capsules, grain filling rate, essential oil percentage and essential oil yield. Mean comparison showed that the highest of seed yield (276 g/m2) obtained in Fereydan ecotype while the highest of essential oil percentage (1.7%) was extracted in Fereydan, Kashan and Daran ecotypes. Furthermore, the highest amount of essential oil yield (4.694 g/m2) was observed in Fereydan ecotype. In conclusion, Fereydan and Daran ecotypes showed the optimum amount of essential oil content and seed yield in black cumin ecotypes cultivated in Isfahan climatic conditions.

Author(s): Ahmad Reza Golparvar, Amin Hadipanah, Saied Salehi

Abstract | Full-Text | PDF

Share this