Ocimum basilicum L. essential oil with high concentration of linalool is valuable in international business. O. basilicum essential oil is widely used as seasoning and in cosmetic industry. To assure proper essential oil yield and quality, it is crucial to determine which environmental and processing factors are affecting its composition. The goal of our work is to evaluate the effects of harvesting time, temperature, and drying period on the yield and chemical composition of O. basilicum essential oil. Harvestings were performed 40 and 93 days after seedling transplantation. Harvesting performed at 8:00 h and 12:00 h provided higher essential oil yield. After five days drying, the concentration of linalool raised from 45.18% to 86.80%. O. basilicum should be harvested during morning and the biomass dried at 40ºC for five days to obtain linalool rich essential oil.
Ocimum basilicum; basil; harvest; post-harvesting; essential oil; linalool
