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The effect of two harvests per year on the yield and composition of Tasmanian peppermint oil ( Mentha piperita L.)
Author(s) -
Clark Robert J.,
Menary Robert C.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
journal of the science of food and agriculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1097-0010
pISSN - 0022-5142
DOI - 10.1002/jsfa.2740351109
Subject(s) - menthol , yield (engineering) , composition (language) , horticulture , essential oil , crop , organoleptic , biology , botany , zoology , chemistry , agronomy , food science , linguistics , materials science , philosophy , organic chemistry , metallurgy
Peppermint ( Mentha piperita L.) was harvested on two occasions during the growing season. Double harvesting yielded approximately 140 kg oil ha −‐1 . The first harvest was timed to coincide with a period of maximum oil yield per unit area ( ca. 70 kg ha −1 ) and yielded an oil containing 39% menthol. The oil yield in the subsequent regrowth increased to approximately 70 kg ha −1 , and when harvested at this stage the oil contained high levels of methol (53%). The oils produced from the double harvest programme could either be combined to resemble the Tasmanian single harvest oil or marketed as distinctive oil types. Organoleptic evaluation indicated that oil from crops 1 and 2 resembled Midwest and Yakima Valley, USA, oils, respectively. Double harvesting had no apparent adverse effect on the regrowth in the following season.