Parsley

production technology of parsley

1. PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY OF PARSLEY

2. INTRODUCTION Botanical name: Petroselinum crispum Mill. Family : Umbelliferae Other names : Ajmood (Hindi), Achu mooda (Kannada), and Kothambelari (Malayalam ) Native : Sardinia (Southern Europe) Extensively cultivated in the Mediterranean region and the USA (the largest commercial producer)

3. DEMAND The herb is grown in pots In India, it is occasionally grown in kitchen gardens Increasing demand in five star hotels, foreigners, and oleoresin or oil extracting industries Cultivators are also getting remunerative prices It can be dried and can be supplied in dried form during off-season or can also be exported

4. BOTANY It is a hardy, aromatic biennial herb Grows vigorously in higher altitudes, lasting up to 4 years Produce a rosette of finely divided radical leaves in the 1 st year and a flowering stalk, up to 100 cm high in 2 nd year It has green compound leaves 2 or 3 pinnate Flowers are yellow or yellowish green in compound umbels Fruit 2- 3 mm long, crecent shaped, conspicuously ridged, consisting of 2 mericarps

5. COMPOSITION per 100g of leaves Moisture 68.4% Carbohydrate 19.7% Protein 5.9% Mineral matter 3.2% Fibre 1.8% Fat 1.0 % Calcium 390 mg Phosphorus 200 mg Iron 17.9 mg Carotene 8230 IU Ascorbic acid 281 mg Nicotinic acid 0.5 mg Thiamine 0.04 mg Riboflavin& Bitin also present The leaves, stems, and fruits contain a glucoside apiin , which on hydrolysis yields apigenin , glucose and apiose Another glucoside consisting of luteolin , glucose and apiol (parsley camphor) It contains essential oils, including terpinene , pinene , and apiol , with apiin , myristicin and palmitic acid

6. USES A cheerful, uplifting flavor and is very nutritious Fresh leaves and oil are commonly used for garnishing and seasoning of foods Roots and dried leaves are used as condiments Leaves and seeds used as spices The leaves are useful to make a sort of tea which is considered to lower fever The juice of fresh leaves used as insecticide Its use should be avoided during pregnancy

7. HORTICULTURAL TYPES Cultivated for the leaves var. crispum in India Grown for turnip like roots var. radicosum

8. Petroselinum sativum

9. Petroselinum hortense

10. VARIETIES Flat/ smooth leaf types : Italian varieties, slightly more nutritious; popular with soup preparation as it has much more flavor than curled type Italy giant, Italian flat dark green, Gigante catalogo , Sweet italian Curled leaf types : More decorative Moss curled, Champion Moss curled, Extra triple curved, Extra curled dwarf, Paramount, Curlina , Unicurl , Garland, Forest green Root types or Bartowich long : White roots (nutty taste) used as a vegetable in soups or eaten raw; frost resistant Hamburg

11. SOIL AND CLIMATE Parsley is a cool weather crop It grows best in a rich soil It requires plenty of moisture and lot of space for spreading Very slow to germinate (20- 30 days) Short duration crop such as radish is planted in between the rows and is harvested before seedlings are developed It can be sown in green house or beds or specially prepared nursery beds

12. PLANTING Seed rate - transplanted 250 g/ ha - direct sown 3.25 kg/ ha Pre treatment: Soak the seeds a day before sowing to hasten the germination; dressing with N promotes rapid growth of seedlings Sowing season - in plains during September to November - in mid hills and hills during February to June Spacing & sowing depth: 6 mm depth in rows 40- 45 cm apart with thinning the seedlings to 10 cm apart Transplanting: Seedlings of 5- 8 cm length in raised nursery beds in evening hours Spacing: 40-45 cm * 10- 15 cm

13. FERTILIZER REQUIREMENT FYM 115 ton/ ha NPK 100:80:40 kg/ ha According to Knott the parsley requires attention and care in the first operational stages Once they are passed it easy to grow it, with taking care of frequent shallow cultivation, weeding, hoeing and timely irrigation Side dressing is recommended with rich compost when the ground haws and regrowth just beginning.

14. DISEASES Early blight ( Cercospora apii ) Late blight ( Septoria apii ) Fusarium yellow Bacterial leaf spot Phoma root rot

15. Other diseases: Pink rot Bacterial soft rot Remedy: The sprays in regular intervals with fungicides viz., Dithane M-45, Copper oxychloride or Blitox and Bavistin may be done

16. PESTS Green caterpillar Aphids Wire worms Army worms Mole cricket Remedy: 1 or 2 sprays with Endosulfan may help to control the insects

17. HARVEST In Uttar Khand region (UP) leaves are harvested 65 days after transplanting and seeds are harvested 185 days after transplanting About 1.25 ton/ha of leaves and 890 kg/ha of seeds can be harvested In France yield of 800- 1500 kg of seed and in Katrain seed yield is about 558.5 kg (1988-89) from moss curled variety For rooted type varieties roots are used fresh or cut longitudinally for drying Leaves are also dried green in shade and kept in air tight bottles

18. BREEDING TECHNIQUE Flowers are formed in corymbs which are supposed to be protoandrous Styles produced 6 days after anther maturity Dudits reported some results of somatic hybridization They crossed P. hortense (2n=22) a mutant leaf parsley with albino carrot and recovered plants containing 2n=19, indicating incomplete elimination of parsley chromosomes Some genetic information from parsley was also transferred to carrot Selection were made to develop improved strains

19. PROCESSED PRODUCTS Dehydrated parsley: Usually done by bringing down the moisture content to about 4% in 2 hours; Dehydration ratio is 8:1 Oil : Petroselinic acid 76%; Used for industrial purposes such as making plastics, synthetic rubber, lubricating oil, additives and protective coatings, etc. Oil is steam distilled from aerial parts bearing immature fruits (0.25%) From mature seeds up to 7% From flowering tops is of the finest quality (0.06%) Herb oil contains apiol and possess a superior aroma Seed oil contains apiol , 20% green fatty oil and X- pinene with small amounts of myristicin , aldehydes , ketones , phenols

20. REFERENCES Panda . H/ Handbook o n Spices and Condiments (Cultivation, Processing and Extraction)/ P No. 491-499 / Asia Pacific Business Press Inc., 106-E, Kamla Nagar, New Delhi- 110 007. Mini Raj. N, Nybe . E.V., Peter. K.V./ Edit. Prof. K.V. Peter/ 2007 / Horticultural Science Series Vol.5 / Page No. 243- 244/ New India Publishing Agency, Pitampura , New Delhi- 110 088. http://aromatherapybible.com/parsley/