FIRST OBSERVATION ON A COLLECTION OF AROMATIC PLANTS IN A PLAIN OF THE CAMPANIA REGION (SOUTHERN ITALY).

The utilization of aromatic plants has been extended to new sectors such as the ornamental and hobby market or the fresh product. Southern Italy can represent an important cropping area to answer to these new request of the market. In this work we report the first results of the observations conducted during the spring and summer of 2005 on a collection of aromatic plants, coming from different plant nurseries and from spontaneous harvest in an irrigated fertile plain of the Campania region. A scheme was adopted with three single rows per plot or three binate rows per plot. The relieves were made on 15 plants per plot. The bio-morphological characteristics and the resistance to biotic and abiotic stress were registered. The content of essential oil was determined. The fresh biomass and dry weight per plant, the vegetation height and the incoming PAR (Photosintetically Active Radiation) were measured at harvest in the plot when it was possible. The results of the first year of observation showed the adaptability of the tested aromatic plant to the irrigated plain of southern Italy. In fact they reached high yields of fresh biomass and oil with a good cover of the soil and PAR absorbance. Furthermore, they didn’t suffer from the excess of water during the winter period and they were not submitted to a high level of infestation.