The 2009 ASHS Annual Conference

Basil (Ocimum spp.), belonging to  mint family, Lamiaceae (Labiatae), is a popular herb grown for the fresh market or for its dried aromatic leaves which are used as a spice or in potpourries.  In the Asian countries, basil, particularly O. tenuiflorum is better known as a medicinal herb used for treating ailments ranging from colds to complex diseases such as cancers and diabetes.  In the US, however, it has a limited acceptance as a fresh market herb.  There is much potential for developing basil as a medicinal plant to cater to the growing herbal medicinal products industry in the US.  A field trial was therefore, conducted to compare conventional and organic production of basil in Alabama.  Six-week old seedlings were transplanted from the greenhouse into field plots arranged in a randomized complete block design with four replications.  Three Ocimum accessions, Ames 23154, Ames 23155, and PI 288779 were main plot treatments.  The accessions were compared for growth, leaf area development, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) interception, canopy cover, and fresh matter accumulation and partitioning pattern over conventional and organic production.  Ames 23154 produced higher above ground biomass in conventional (1214.81 g/m²) than accessions PI 288779 (1176.44 g/m²) and Ames 23155 (617.44 g/m²).  Ames 23154 produced greater biomass in conventional (1214.81 g/m²) and in organic (940.55 g/m²) compared to Ames 23155 and PI 288779.  Among agronomic practices, conventional appeared to be optimum as all accessions produced a significantly greater mean canopy, intercepted higher percentage PAR and produced significantly more total biomass and leaf fresh weight than organic basil production. Basil leaves are consumed fresh for alleviating minor ailments and in culinary preparations such as soups, salads, and pesto.  PI 288779 partition greater fresh leaf biomass conventional (472.63 g/m2) and organic (403.8 g/m2), which are primary source of bioactive compounds in basil than any other accession in conventional and organic production.  Genotypic variation for fresh biomass partitioning and relationship among horticultural traits as influenced by conventional and organic production will be discussed in this presentation.