Evaluation of Some Chamomile Cultivars Introduced and Adapted in Egypt

The Egyptian chamomile has a good reputation in the export markets due to hand pick of the flower heads and application of organic farming system. However, in the last decade exports of chamomile faced some problems due to inconsistency with the required oil quality. Accordingly, a long term program was initiated for quality improvement of chamomile grown in Egypt. This approach depended on a selection program within the local variety as well as introduction of new sources from other countries to diversify the available product of chamomile in Egypt. This investigation was carried out during two successive seasons to evaluate the growth, productivity and oil quality of four cultivars of chamomile grown in three different locations in Egypt. The used cultivars were; Local (the type locally grown for several decades), Local Improved (resulted from selection program for 6 years), Bode Gold (introduced from Germany) and Syrian (introduced from Syria). The obtained result revealed that the Bode Gold type was superior regarding its productivity per unit area in comparison with the other types of chamomile. Such productivity is the net accumulation of the growth traits; flower head diameter, fresh and dry weight of flowers per plant. The Local improved type came in the second rank. A positive correlation could be observed between the yield of flower heads and the flower head diameter. In most cases cultivation of the different types in different locations did not affect the ranking of these types meaning the stability of these types under different growth conditions. The obtained results revealed that the oil composition of chamomile types under investigation is stable and characteristic for each type even when cultivated in the different locations. The selection programs in the local variety positively affected the growth traits, flower size and yield of chamomile, and to a lesser extend the oil content. There was a noticeable improve in the oil content of the improved cultivar to reach 1.06 and 0.94 % in the two seasons, respectively. It also led to an increment in the total content of the four major constituents to constitute 83.96 % of the oil compared with 72.21% in the original one, as well as remarkable increase in the chamazulene percentage to reach 44.31 % compared with 38.34 % in the original local variety. As a result of the present study, several types of chamomile are available for chamomile producers to fulfill the variable specifications for export. The Syrian type of chamomile adapted under the local conditions is a potent one for chamomile oil production.