Inoculation with microbial consortia enhances the growth, nutrition and oil concentration of Ocimum sanctum

Ocimum sanctum is an important medicinal plant. The leaves are rich in eugenol, which is the active constituent of this medicinal plant. An earlier pot culture study brought out that Pantoea dispersa as the best PGPR and Glomus monosporum as the best AM fungi for inoculating Ocimum sanctum. In the present investigation, a pot culture experiment was conducted in a glasshouse, to study the effect of individual as well as microbial consortia of P. dispersa + G. monosporum on the growth of O. sanctum. The plant height, stem girth, plant dry matter and essential oil concentration and its main component eugenol were significantly higher in plants inoculated with P. dispersa + G. monosporum. The results showed that inoculation with microbial consortia, significantly increased root and shoot biomass of O. sanctum as well as eugenol, in comparison to control. It was concluded that the inoculated microbial consortia (P. dispersa + G. monosporum) interact synergistically and increased the biomaas and yield of oil in O. sanctum.