Study of Plant Growth and Essential Oil of Nepeta cataria L. in Kazakhstan

Abstract

The genus Nepeta exhibits a wide spectrum of biological activity in medicine, agriculture, and the food industry. The purpose of the research is to develop the optimal agricultural technology for plantation cultivation of Nepeta cataria L. with the preservation of useful properties and to increase the content of essential oil in the conditions of Northern Kazakhstan. The objects of research are annual plants N. cataria L. growing on a plantation in the Akmola region. It has been reliably proven that the increase in the growth of N. cataria L., the biomass, and the yield is positively affected by the application of complex fertilizer N₁₀₀P₈₀K₁₂₀. The essential oil yield was 0.52% in the experiment without fertilizers and 0.57% in the experiment with fertilizers. The main components of the essential oil of N. cataria L. grown in the experimental plots (plot #1 and plot #2) were 4aα7α7aα-Nepetalactone (76.5612 and 79.3200%), β-caryophyllene (4.0001 and 4.0351%) and caryophyllene oxide (1.9789 and 2.5969%). The remaining components were contained in the essential oil in small quantities. The composition of the essential oil of plants from Kazakhstan was similar to the composition of the essential oil of plants from central Iran, Egypt, and Korea, because the main substance was nepetalactone. The conducted studies prove the success of growing catnip in the conditions of Northern Kazakhstan.