Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Industrial Crops & Products journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/indcrop Growth, essential oil content, chemical composition and antioxidant properties of lemongrass as affected by harvest period and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in field conditions R. Fokom a,c, ⁎ , S. Adamou b,c , D. Essono c , D.P. Ngwasiri a , P. Eke d , C. Teugwa Mofor d , F. Tchoumbougnang a , Boyom F. Fekam d , P.H. Amvam Zollo d , D. Nwaga c , A.K. Sharma e a Institute of Fishery and Aquatic Sciences, University of Douala, Cameroon b Faculty of Agronomy and Agricultural Sciences, University of Dschang, Cameroon c Soil Microbiology Laboratory, Biotechnology Center, University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon d Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Sciences, University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon e Department of Biological Science, C.B.S.H. G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, US Nagar, Uttarakhand, 263145, India ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Essential oil Lemongrass AM fungi Antioxidant properties Harvest period ABSTRACT Lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus), is a fragrances compound producer widely used in the world for various purpose. This plant can undergoing arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis with consequences on it composi- tion. To evaluate the impact of harvest periods and AM fungi inoculation on growth, the chemical composition, and antioxidant properties of lemongrass essential oil (Eo), a field experiment made of two treatments was done. Plant was harvested at three periods and Eo extracted according to treatments. Root colonization was assessed by roots staining, and Eo analysis by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), as well as antioxidant properties using 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate (DPPH) scavenging test. Significant increase of root colonization was observed with consequences on biomass production and Eo following AM inoculation. A total of 34, 33, and 36 compounds were identified in the Eo of plant without AM fungi inoculation respectively at the first second and third harvest periods, while 37, 37, and 35 compounds were identified in the Eo from plant with AM fungi inoculation respectively at the first second and third harvest periods. Myrcene, isogeranial, neral, 6- methyl-5-hepten-2-one, and geranial were record in high proportion, with variable amounts according to the harvest periods and the AM fungi inoculation. These five compounds accounted for 87.26%, 85.28%, and 85.85% of the Eo content of the control plants for the first, second, and third harvest periods respectively, and 85.56%, 81.31%, 86.84% for the first, second and third harvest period in Eo from inoculated plant respectively. A significant variation of antioxidant properties of Eo was observed with respect to the harvest period and the AM fungi inoculation. AM fungi inoculation modified lemongrass metabolism with consequences on the Eo content, composition and antioxidant properties within growth. 1. Introduction The environment in which plants grow can alter the various meta- bolic pathways in the plant, causing the biosynthesis or disappearances of various compounds. The consequences of such situation might be a variation of the whole plant physiology and metabolisms with im- plication on the potential utilities. Environmental changes include re- sponsible of such observations include biotic and abiotic factors. Plant age, stage development, luminosity, temperature, rainfalls, soil com- position, level of pollution and the soil microbial interactions are responsible of such observation (Santos et al., 2009; Lermen et al., 2015; Urcoviche et al., 2015; Sá et al., 2015). Among the biotic factors, inoculation with AM fungi can influence the soil-microbial-plant in- teraction, thus leading to the production of bioactive chemical com- pound in medicinal and aromatic plants (Kapoor et al., 2002; Karagiannidis et al., 2011). This can be as a result of better nutritional conditions in the environment or as a protective measure by the host against the presence of the fungus (Volpin et al., 1994). Roots of about 70%–90% of plant species have the ability to form symbiosis with certain soil fungi known as Mycorrhizae (Smith and Read, 2008). With https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2019.111477 Received 21 January 2019; Received in revised form 10 June 2019; Accepted 11 June 2019 ⁎ Corresponding author at: Institute of Fishery and Aquatic Sciences, University of Douala, and Soil Microbiology Laboratory, Biotechnology Center, University of Yaoundé I, PO Box 00812, Yaoundé, Cameroon. E-mail address: rfokom@gmail.com (R. Fokom). Industrial Crops & Products 138 (2019) 111477 0926-6690/ © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. T