impact of sowing date and liquid fertilizer on growth, yield, and bioactive components of parsley plant

The research was conducted in the private farms of Abi Al-Khasib district (Latitude and longitude 30°26'46.9"N (30.4463600°), 47°58'41.3"E (47.9781300°)), Basrah governorate, during the winter growth season of 2023-2024. The experiment aimed to know the effect of sowing dates (1 September, 15 September, and 1 October) on the local parsley cultivar growth, yield, and bioactive products. The parsley plants were then applied with three different concentrations of organic liquid fertilizer (0, 1, and 2 ml L-1). The results showed that the late sowing date had a significant effect on plant height, branch count, leaf content of total carbohydrates and vitamin C, and the percentage of volatile and constant oil. In comparison to the initial sowing date of 1/9, both sowing dates (15/9) and 1/10 demonstrated a substantial increase in the number of leaves, oil density, specific weight, seed yield per plant, and total seed yield. The plants that were treated with 2 ml L-1 of liquid fertilizer recorded the highest values more shoots, leaves, total soluble carbohydrates, vitamin C, volatile oil, and a higher specific weight than the plants sprayed with 1 ml L-1 of liquid fertilizer. The control and 1 ml L-1 treatments were considerably superior in plant height. However, the leaf number, carotene concentration in leaves, seed yield per plant, and total seed yield were in stark contrast. The highest values in the yield of seeds and the total yield of the crop were achieved with a late sowing date of 1/10 and a 2 ml L-1 liquid fertilizer application, respectively, at 3.910 g and 0.573 tons ha. The GC-MS analysis revealed the identification of 40 bioactive compounds and the most significant chemical components of the oil. The predominant bioactive compound was 7-octadecanoic acid, methyl ester, with a concentration of 47.21%. D-limonene was the second most important compound, with a concentration of 19.89%.