الفهرس 
INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Medicinal and aromatic plants are becoming increasingly important in agricultural and industrial production. where medicinal plants are the most important source of medicines or active substances in the preparation of medicines. Egypt benefits from the favorable climate, fertile soil and technological skills in growing a variety of plants, most of which are export crops such as Italian basil.During two seasons, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021, this study was conducted at one of the agricultural nurseries in Dakahlia Governorate, Egypt to perceive how ground treatments and foliar application with some plant growth stimulants like yeast extract, seaweed extract, chitosan and vermicompost tea influenced the growth, chemical composition and essential oil percentage of medicinal and aromatic plants like Italian basil (Ocimum basilicum L. var. Genovese).The experimental design for each ground treatment (vermicompost: clay soil at two rates 25 %: 75 % and 50 %: 50%) as a separate experiment was a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four replications. Each experiment of ground treatments contained thirteen foliar spraying treatments with four different types of plant growth stimulants at three rates as follows:1.Control treatment (spraying plants with water only).2.Spray plants with yeast extract at the rate of 2,4and g/L.3.Spray plants with seaweed extract at the rate of 20,40and60 %.4.Spray plants with chitosan at the rate of 500,750and1000 ppm.5.Spray plants with vermicompost tea at the rate of 250,500and 750 ml/L.The most important results can be summarized as follows: 1.Effect of ground treatments(vermicompost):1.1.Characteristics of vegetative growth: The results obtained clearly showed that the use of the growth environment consisting of 25% vermicompost: 75% clay soil showed a significant effect and gave the best results on vegetative growth characteristics (plant height, number of branches and leaves/plant, leaf area, fresh and dry weight per plant, fresh and dry weight of roots) in both seasons. However, the other growing environment under study (50% vermicompost: 50% clay soil) resulted in the lowest values for all studied vegetative traits in both seasons.1.2. The chemical content of the leaves:The results obtained clearly showed that the use of the growth environment consisting of 25% vermicompost: 75% clay soil led to a significant increase in the leaves content of nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, chlorophyll a and b content, the total content of chlorophyll and carotenoids, and the percentage of total carbohydrates in both seasons. While the other growing environment recorded 50% vermicompost: 50% clay soil, the lowest values for all the chemical characteristics studied in Italian basil leaves in both seasons.1.3.Percentage of essential oil:Cultivation of Italian basil plants in a growing environment consisting of 25% vermicompost: 75% clay soil increased the percentage of essential oil in the leaves of Italian basil in both seasons. While the other growing environment recorded 50% vermicompost: 50% clay soil, the lowest values for the percentage of essential oil in Italian basil leaves in both seasons.2.Foliar application with some plant growth stimulants:2.1. characteristics of vegetative growth:from the results obtained from this study, the use of different spraying materials (yeast extract, algae extract, chitosan and vermicompost tea) led to a significant increase in vegetative growth characteristics (plant height, number of branches and leaves/plant, leaf area, fresh and dry weight per plant, fresh and dry weight of roots) were obtained from foliar spraying of Italian basil plants with chitosan at a rate of 750 ppm after two weeks of planting in three batches, two weeks of each batch in both seasons. Then the foliar spray with vermicompost tea at a rate of 750 ml/liter came in the second rank of its effect on the characteristics of vegetative growth, then the foliar spray with chitosan at a rate of 500 ppm ranked third in both seasons. However, the control treatment (without spraying) recorded the lowest values for the vegetative characteristics of Italian basil.2.2. The chemical content of the leaves:The use of different spraying materials led to a noticeable increase in the leaves content of the mineral elements represented in nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium as well as the pigments chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b and the total content of chlorophyll and carotenoids and the total content of carbohydrates in the leaves of Italian basil and the best results that gave the highest values for most traits The studied was spraying with chitosan at a rate of 750 ppm, followed by vermicompost at a rate of 750 ml/liter, then chitosan at 500 ppm during the two successive seasons, while the control treatment (without spraying) recorded the lowest values for all studied chemical characteristics in both seasons.2.3. Percentage of essential oil:The highest values observed in the percentage of essential oil were obtained from foliar spraying with chitosan at a rate of 750 ppm, then foliar spraying with vermicompost tea at a rate of 750 ml/liter in the second rank, while the lowest values were obtained from the control treatment (without spraying) in both seasons.3.Effect of the interaction between ground treatments and foliar spraying with some growth stimulants:3.1.Characteristics of vegetative growth:The interaction between the two factors of the study (soil treatments and foliar spraying with some natural plant growth stimulants) had a significant effect on the vegetative growth characteristics represented by plant height, the number of leaves/plant, leaf area of the plant, fresh and dry weight of the vegetative group, fresh and dry weight of roots, as well as the number of branches. In the second season, while the number of branches in the first season, there were no significant differences in the interaction between soil treatments and foliar spraying with some natural plant growth stimulants, as the highest values for the studied traits resulted from the use of a growth environment consisting of 25% vermicompost: 75% clay soil in addition to spraying The foliar treatment of Italian basil with chitosan at a rate of 750 ppm was also the second best interactive treatment when using the same growth environment consisting of 25% vermicompost: 75% clay soil next to the foliar spray with sky vermicompost tea at a rate of 750 ml/liter in both seasons. However, the use of a growing environment consisting of 50% vermicompost: 50% clay soil without foliar spraying resulted in the lowest values for all studied vegetative traits.3.2.The chemical content of the leaves:The highest values of chemical content properties were recorded in Italian basil leaves as a result of cultivation in a growth environment of 25% vermicompost: 75 clay soil in addition to foliar spraying with chitosan at a rate of 750 ppm during the two growing seasons, and it was the second best interactive treatment when using the same growth environment consisting of 25 % vermicompost fertilizer: 75% clay soil next to the foliar spray with sky vermicompost tea at a rate of 750 ml/liter in both seasons in all studied traits (nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, the total content of chlorophyll, carotenoids and total content of carbohydrates). While the lowest values for the studied traits were when using the growing environment 50% vermicompost: 50% clay soil without foliar spray in both easons.3 .3.Percentage of essential oil:The best interaction that gave the highest values for the percentage of essential oil was the result of basil cultivation in a growing environment of 25% vermicompost: 75% clay soil and chitosan foliar spray at a rate of 750 ppm in both seasons and the second-best interaction when using the same growth environment and foliar spray with tea Vermicompost at a rate of 750 ml/liter in both seasons.CONCLUSIONIt is possible to conclude that employing growth media is beneficial consists of 25 % vermicompost: 75 % Clay soil in addition to foliar spraying with chitosan at 750 ppm or vermicompost tea at 750 ml/L two weeks after transplanting in three batches with two weeks of each batch to enhance growth and chemical composition of medicinal and aromatic plants and essential oil percentage like Italian basil (Ocimum basilicum L. var. Genovese) under the natural circumstances of Egypt’s Dakahlia Governorate.