Growth and Essential Oils of Salvia officinalis Plants Derived from Conventional or Aeroponic Produced Seedlings

Salvia officinalis L. (Lamiaceae) is cultivated in many countries as a valuable medicinal and aromatic plant with antiseptic and spasmolytic effects due to its essential oils, used as ingredient in many phytopreparations. The present study aimed to enhance the growth of S. officinalis plants and to improve the essential oil quality, applying hydroponic technology. Seeds of cultivated S. officinalis were used as initial material: experimental seeds were germinated on aeroponic vertical system into peat cubes in pots with keramzite and control ones in terrines with ordinary soil. All seedlings were transferred to the greenhouse in pots with sterilized compost and universal soil mixture. The morphometric parameters of both groups, 80 seedlings each, were compared after two months; 36 plants per group were transferred to the field plot, and herbage of 10 randomly chosen plants per group was harvested during the full flowering stage in two consecutive years. Essential oils were extracted on Clevenger apparatus and their composition was analyzed by GC/MS. Conventionally obtained seedlings were significantly higher (P<0.001), while aeroponically derived plants increased their biomass by 18.4%, ramified earlier, and developed much more generative shoots (p