Effects of Planting Density and Harvesting Time on Leaf and Essential Oil Yield of Bay Laurel (Laurus nobilis L.) Cultured in Shrub Form

Bay laurel leaves and fruits are usually obtained from naturally grown plants. Therefore, it is not always possible to obtain the product at the same quality. For this reason, plantation for leaf production should be established separately from fruit production to obtain quality products. The aim of the study was to investigate the feasibility of the production of the bay laurel plant such as field crops in a shrub form. It is also important to know the ontogenetic variability on the amount of active substance and determine suitable plant density and appropriate harvesting time in order to increase leaf yield and essential oil with desired quality characteristics. Three different planting frequencies (1x1.5m; 1x3 m; 1x1x3 m) and three different harvesting times (one form per year, two forms per year and two years per form) were applied to the experiment. The experiment was established with a total of 1080 seedlings. In the experiment, the shoot length (16,84 - 31,50 cm), number of shoots (4,77 - 16,00 plants/plant), fresh weight (6,88 - 27,80 kg/da), dry weight (4,15 - 26,63 kg/da), dry leaf yield (2,57 - 17,29 kg/da), leaf area (20,41 - 24,56 cm2), chlorophyll SPAD value (32,36 - 39,5 kg/da), total ash content (7,96 - 11,46 %), essential oil content (2,06 - 3,12%) and essential oil yields were determined.