Thai Holy Basil is a versatile plant that can be used for culinary and medicinal purpose. The essential oil of holy basil consists mostly of eugenol, β-elemene, β-caryophyllene and germacrene, with the remainder being made up of various trace compound chemicals, mostly terpenes. Eugenol and other antioxidant phenols and flavonoids are responsible for many of the pharmacological effects of holy basil. The review of scientific literature gave the result that previous experiments used exclusively growth chambers. Utilizing a shading net could provide growers and farmers with a low-cost alternative compared to artificial electric supplemental lighting of their crops but still increase their income in terms of higher plant yield and higher amount of active ingredients. Plants of Thai basil cv. Red leaf have been grown in custom-made greenhouse-like growing tents covered with coloured shading net in red, grey, blue and green and no shading net as control. Generally, the yield under shading net was lower than the control group. However, the cultivation of Thai sweet basil under blue shading net yielded a higher amount of essential oil compounds per area compared with control group respectively no shading net. Therefore it can be concluded that except for pharmaceutical use or extraction purposes of specific botanic compounds the cultivation of Thai sweet basil under coloured shading nets proves no benefits than the current cultivation under open field conditions.
Anahtar Kelimeler: Shading net, Yield, Active ingredients, Holy basil
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