The Effects of Water Deficit and Zeolite Application on Growth Traits and Oil Yield of Medicinal Peppermint (Mentha piperita L)

In order to study the effect of different rates of zeolite and water deficit in Peppermint (Mentha piperita L), an experiment was conducted in factorial based on a randomized complete block design with three replications in institute of agriculture research in university of Zabol, Iran. Factors were considered as three levels of drought stress (70%fc, 50%fc, 30%fc) and four levels of zeolite (0, 1.5, 2, 2.5 g/1kgsoil). Analyze of variance showed that all of growth parameters and essential oil yield were affected by drought stress and zeolite application. Drought stress motivated a significant reduction in all growth parameter except oil percentage. At mainly zeolite application increased the mean of all traits. Results for interaction effects showed that zeolite application in drought stress increased the means of all traits. Analysis of variance for essential yield revealed that the highest oil yield belonged to drought stress 50%fc and 2.5gr zeolite. It seems that zeolite application in dry lands are exposed to drought stress be helpful for growth parameters and oil yield improvement and prevention of decreased oil yield.