The Impact of Growth Media on Production and Volatile Oil Composition of Ocimum Basilicum L. Cultured in Aquaponic Conditions

The present research aims to reveal valuable information related to basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) volatile oil composition and production performance in aquaponics recirculating systems and to offer solutions for increasing the economic sustainability of this biotechnological process. Aquaponics substrate techniques is used considering 2 grow media - GM: conventional hydroton - HGM and alternative GM, using crushed seashells as by-products - AGM. The results indicate that AGM assures better basil growth performance in terms of weight, shoot height and leaves area surface. The yield of volatile oil from basil biomass indicates superior results for AGM (0.65 mL/100g basil dry weight - DW), compared to HGM (0.55 mL/100g basil DW). The volatile oil (VO) resulting from AGM basil recorded higher percentages of monoterpene (39.96%), aromatic compounds (9.93%) and aliphatic compounds (1.05%), compared to VO resulting from HGM basil (37.80% monoterpene, 8.5% aromatic compounds and 0% aliphatic compounds, respectively). It can be concluded that AGM represents a suitable solution for improving aquaponic basil production biotechnology both in terms of crop productivity and quality revealed by volatile oil composition.