AGRONOMIC AND PHYTOCHIMIC CHARACTERISTICS IN SOME GENOTYPES OF OCIMUM BASILICUM L.

The recent news regarding the true or presumed toxicity of basil has raised a certain interest and necessity to better understand the agronomic characteristics and chemical composition of the numerous botanical accessions cultivated in our country. The aim of these trials was to investigate the morphological characteristics and the chemical composition of ten genotypes. The results showed many differences among genotypes: four phenotypes were identified on the basis of habit, life characteristics and plant height. The composition of the essential oils included different chemotypes, but all the cultivars were characterized by high content of linalool. Differences in chemical composition were also found during the different growth stages and they could suggest different harvest times according to the use.