Content and composition of essential oil and yield of herb and seed of two Polish sweet
basil cultivars (‘Wala’ and ‘Kasia’) were analyzed. In 2005 and 2006 the field experiments
were conducted in order to investigate usefulness of basil cultivars in two different locations
(Mikkeli, Finland and Poznań, Poland). The weather conditions were similar in both
locations in the period from transplantation to full flowering. The biomasses developed
similarly. In addition, the shorter growing season in Finland is not favorable for the seed
development and seed production of basil. The chemical composition of basil oil was almost
identical in both experimental sites. Two newly bred Polish basil cultivars performed
stable growth and good quality characters. The morphological and chemical features were
almost identical, even one plantation was conducted 1000 km up to the north.