EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT WATER APPLICATION ON YIELD AND OIL CONTENTS OF AUTUMNALLY SOWED CORIANDER (Coriandrum sativum L.)

A two-year study was conducted to determine plant biomass, plant height, seed yield, fatty acid and essentialoil contents and essential oil composition of coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) cultivars across differentirrigation levels in a semiarid climate area of Kayseri, Turkey. The experimental design was a randomizedcomplete block arranged in split plot arrangement with three replications. The main plots were cultivarsGurbuz and Aslan, the subplots were irrigation levels 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100%, assigned as S0, S1, S2, S3 and S4,respectively. Growth season of autumn sowed corianders lasted about 270 days and the plant consumed waterbetween 265-680 mm according to the applied water level. Coriander is a slightly sensitive plant to water stresssince seed yield response factor of both coriander cultivars were found slightly higher than 1. Higher seed andessential oil yields were obtained with elevated water application. Water stress caused decrease in corianderbiomass, plant height, seed yield and essential oil yield. Fatty acid and essential oil ratios were not changedsignificantly by water stress. Main essential oil component linalool was not changed with changing wateramounts. Non-stable differences in essential oil components were observed between coriander varieties in bothyears. In coriander cultivation, timely irrigation with enough water is very crucial to obtain the highest seedyield and essential oil yield.