Investigation of the effect of some elements

(B, Mo, Co and Pb) on growth, productivity and

quality of Cymbopogon citratus L.

[57]

Soheir¹, E. El-Sherbeny; M.Y. Khalil¹ and N.Y. Naguib¹

ABSTRACT

          Two pot experiments were conducted during two successive seasons to study the effect of various levels of heavy elements, boron, molybdenum, cobalt and lead on growth, yield and chemical constituents of Cymbopogon citratus plant. The obtained results indicated that the different levels of B, Mo and Co promoted the vegetative characters including plant height, number of tillers, fresh and dry weight of herb. Lead caused unfavorable effect on most vegetative growth, specially at high levels (15 and 20 ppm). Total carbohydrates, crude protein, photosynthetic pigment and essential oil percentage recorded positive responses with various levels of B or Mo, while Co treatments gave different effect as the levels used. However, application of lead at 15 and 20 ppm led to marked inhibition in chemical constituents studied. The various effects of the application these elements on essential oil constituents, macro and microelements uptake of lemongrass herb were recorded.