Published in Scientific Papers. Series A. Agronomy, Vol. LXVII, Issue 1
Written by Vanya DELIBALTOVA, Svetlana MANHART, Istiliyan STOYCHEV, Martin NEDYALKOV
Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia Mill.) is one of the most significant essential oil crops in Bulgaria. It is a perennial bush belonging to the Lamiaceae family and is mainly cultivated for its fresh inflorescences. The experimental work was conducted in the Eastern Bulgaria region, specifically in the city of Aytos, during the period of 2020 to 2022. The experiment was carried out on cinnamon forest soil type using a randomized block design with four replications and a plot size of 10 m2. Three lavender varieties were tested: Hemus, Yubileyna, and Sevtopolis. The aim of the investigation was to establish the productivity and quality of lavender varieties cultivated in the eastern part of Bulgaria. The analysis of the results showed that over the three-year experimental period, the highest yield of fresh inflorescences was obtained from the Sevtopolis variety, while the highest percentage of essential oil content, as well as the highest essential oil yield, was realized from the Yubileyna variety. The content of linalyl acetate and linalool is 1:0.7 only in the Hemus variety, which defines the essential oil as high quality.
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