Raman Dang

Interaction Between Phosphorus and Zinc on the Biomass Yield and Yield Attributes of the Medicinal Plant Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana)

A greenhouse experiment was conducted at the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Bangalore to study the interaction effect between phosphorus (P) and zinc (Zn) on the yield and yield attributes of the medicinal plant stevia. The results show that the yield and yield attributes have been found to be significantly affected by different treatments. The total yield in terms of biomass production has been increased significantly with the application of Zn and P in different combinations and methods, being highest (23.34 g fresh biomass) in the treatment where Zn was applied as both soil (10 kg ZnSO4/ha) and foliar spray (0.2% ZnSO4). The results also envisaged that the different yield attributes viz. height, total number of branches, and number of leaves per plant have been found to be varied with treatments, being highest in the treatment where Zn was applied as both soil and foliar spray without the application of P. The results further indicated that the yield and yield attributes of stevia have been found to be decreased in the treatment where Zn was applied as both soil and foliar spray along with P suggesting an antagonistic effect between Zn and P.

Interaction Effect Between Phosphorus and Zinc on their Availability in Soil in Relation to their Contents in Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana)

A greenhouse experiment was conducted at the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Bangalore to study the interaction effect between phosphorus and zinc on their availability in soil in relation to their contents in stevia (Stevia rebaudiana). The results show that the amount of available P and Zn content in soil has been found to increase initially and, thereafter, the amount of the same decreased with the progress of plant growth up to 60 days irrespective of treatments. The amount of P and Zn in soils showed an increase with their separate applications either as soil or foliar spray while that of the same value significantly decreased both in soils and plants due to their combined applications, suggesting a mutual antagonistic effect between Zn and P affecting each others availability in soil and content in the stevia plant.

Effect of biofertilizers on the nutrient availability in soil in relation to growth, yield and yield attributes of Stevia rebaudiana

A field experiment was conducted at Rani Chandramma Agricultural University (Arabhavi, Belgaum), Karnataka, India, in basic soil to study the nutrient availability in soil, yield and yield attributes of the medicinal plant stevia (Stevia rebaudiana). The results showed that the availability of nutrients such as nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) in the soil increased up to the fifth month; and thereafter, decreased by the same amount with the progress of the plant growth up to the sixth month, irrespective of treatments. Results also showed that the fresh and dry biomass yields significantly increased up to the sixth month with different treatments, but the yield attributes like plant height and the number of branches were observed to be varied with various treatments, being highest in the combined application of biofertilizers over that of their corresponding sole applications.

Effect of N, P and K fertilizers on their availability in soil in relation to the Stevia plant (Stevia rebaudiana Bert.)

Abstract A greenhouse experiment was conducted at the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Bangalore, to study the effect of combined applications of nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P) and potassium (K) fertilizers on their availability in soils in relation to their contents in the Stevia plant. The results show that the amount of available N, P and K in soil has been found to be increased initially up to 45 days and thereafter, the amount of the same content decreased with the progress of plant growth up to 60 days irrespective of treatments. However, the magnitudes of such increases in N, P and K contents both in soils and plants have also been enhanced with the simultaneous application of N, P and K (40:20:30) kg/ha over that of their corresponding individual applications.

Phytochemical Screening for Various Secondary Metabolites, Antioxidant, and Anthelmintic Activity of Coscinium fenestratum Fruit Pulp: A New Biosource for Novel Drug Discovery

Objectives: Coscinium fenestratum (Gaertn.) Colebr. (CF, Family: Menispermaceae) is an important endangered woody climber in India. CF contains various major secondary metabolites for the treatment of various disease conditions. The present study aimed to establish the antioxidant and anthelmintic activity of Coscinium fenestratum fruit pulp. Materials and Methods: The dried fruit pulp was subjected to aqueous, methanol, and mixed aqueous and methanol (1:1) solvent extraction followed by phytochemical investigations, estimations of alkaloids, phenolics, flavonoids, antioxidant potentiality (DPPH and hydrogen peroxide scavenging methods), and anthelmintic activity tests were carried out. Results: Preliminary phytochemical screening of CF fruit extracts revealed the presence of alkaloids phenols, flavonoids, tannins, steroids, and resins, which are responsible for biologic properties. The combined aqueous and methanol extract resulted in significant anthelmintic and antioxidant properties in a dose-dependent manner. The DPPH free radical scavenging assay and H2O2 assay exhibited IC50 values of 42.38±0.012 µg/mL and 46.80±0.011 µg/mL, respectively. Thereafter, the anthelmintic activity test was carried out against Pheretima posthuma and Taenia solium with the extract at varying concentrations of 25, 50, 100 and 150 mg/mL and compared with standard albendazole (25 and 50 mg/mL) and saline (0.9%) as a control. All the extracts exhibited concentration-dependent paralytic effect, followed by death on the test organism, but significant activity was observed with the combined methanol and aqueous extract. Conclusion: The study was conducted in order to find possible isolated compounds as a biosources for future novel antioxidants in food and pharmaceutical formulations. Our findings indicate for the first time that the CF fruit pulp has therapeutic values with prominent antioxidant and anthelmintic properties.

Comparative proximate analysis, phytochemical screening and antioxidant study of leaf and root extracts of Decalepis hamiltonii Wight & Arn.

Decalepis hamiltonii Wight & Arn. (DH, family: Asclepiadaceae) is an endemic and endangered plant in India. The plant is commonly known as Swallow root and rarely located in Bangalore, Karnataka. The present study was revealed to establish proximate analysis, phytochemical screening and antioxidant activity on leaves and root methanolic extract of the domesticated DH plant. Moisture content and ash content was estimated for both leaves and roots and gave higher values for leaves (7.4 % and 6.7 %, respectively) than roots. Thereafter, various elements such as Fe, Cu, Zn, Cd, Cr, Pb, Ni, As, K, P, Ca and Na were estimated and revealed absent of non essential heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Ni, Pb, As) in leaves whereas below detectable limits of the same was detected for root sample. Various chemical tests for leaves and roots were carried out and revealed presence of flavonoids, tannins, glycosides, steroids, terpenoids, carbohydrate and phenols. Furthermore, total phenolic, total flavonoids content was resulted higher for leaves extracts and the same trend followed for antioxidant activity when IC50 values were compared with standard ascorbic acid and roots extract. Finally concluded that leaves extract had powerful antioxidant properties than roots extracts and the activity was dose dependent manner.