Volatile Profiling and Essential Oil Yield ofCymbopogon citratus(DC.) Stapf Treated with Rhizosphere Fungi and Some Important Fertilizers

Sustainable improvement in the yield of aromatic plants for essential oil production is the need of time. For this many technologies are employed today by the farmers. However use of rhizosphere fungi seems to be highly economical, user friendly and sustainable, hence this approach is considered in the present investigation. For present study lemon grass seedlings were raised in plastic pots containing soil inoculated with rhizosphere fungi. The effect of rhizosphere fungi on essential oil content revealed that there was enhancement in the range of 0.1 to 0.8 per cent. The variation was differing from species to species but highest was in Trichoderma viride and lowest in Aspergillus terreus. The treatment of different fertilizers showed significant effect on quantitative expression of essential oil composition of Cymbopogon citratus. The results showed maximum contents of citral a, citral b and Linalool in the treatment of T. viride. Maximum geraniol and geranyl acetate content was recorded in A. niger treated plant. The present study confirmed that T. viride is more efficient than the other rhizosphere fungi in enhancing oil, citral a, citral b and linalool content in C. citratus which may be exploited on commercial level.