Yield and Essential Oil Quality of Cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.) in Relation to Irrigation Regimes under Conventional and Organic Conditions

The impact of irrigation regimes on yield and quality essential oil of cumin (Cuminum cyminum) under conventional and organic was investigated. Four irrigation regimes in conventional and organic conditions were applied in two years. In both years, rain-fed cultivation produced the lowest seed (408 and 504 kg ha(-1)) and essential oil yield (17 and 19 kg ha(-1)) and the highest percentage of essential oil (2.84 and 2.71%) in both conventional and organic growing conditions. While cuminal (20.7%) was the main component of the essential oil in cut-off irrigation in the seed formation stage, gamma-terpinene (20.8-25.84%) was the main component of essential oil in other irrigation regimes. The percentage of compounds detected in organic cultivation was higher than in conventional cultivation. In organic cultivation, gamma-terpinene (25.6%), cuminal (20.6%), beta-pinene (13.8%), and p-Cymene (10.1%) and under conventional conditions, alpha-Terpinen-7-al (21.4%), p-Cymene (21.1%), cuminal (16.3%) and alpha-Pinene (11.1%) were the main components of the essential oil. The results obtained could be of economic importance for obtaining higher quantitative and qualitative yield of cumin by organic cultivation and full irrigation.