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 1st
year and a flowering stalk, up to 100 cm high in 2ndyear
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
11. 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
12.
13. 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
14. 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
15. 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.
17. 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
19. 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
20. 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
21. 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
22. REFERENCES
Panda. H/ Handbook on 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/