Fulvic acid affects pepper antioxidant activity and fruit quality

Fulvic acid has been considered as a valuable fertilizer for sustainable agriculture. The present investigation  was undertaken to evaluate the effect of fulvic acid (FA) on antioxidant compounds and fruit quality of pepper  under field conditions. Plants were grown in the Department of Horticulture Farm, Ferdowsi University of  Mashhad, Iran (latitude 36‹ 17Œ N, longitude 59‹ 35Œ E and 985 m elevation). The experiment was designed in randomized block design with three replications. Treatments consisted of five levels of fulvic acid (0, 25, 100, 175 and 250 mg kg-1). The results indicate that fruit antioxidant activity, total phenolic, carbohydrate,  capsaicin and carotenoids contents were influenced by fulvic acid, but total flavonoid and ascorbic acid  contents were not affected significantly by fulvic acid treatments applications. FA applied at 25 mg kg-1 resulted in the highest carbohydrate content, lycopene and ƒÀ-carotene contents, while the lowest values  were recorded in the control. Fulvic acid treatments positively affected fruit quality (total soluble solids and titratable acidity); total soluble solids and titratable acidity significantly increased in response to FA  treatments. These results confirm that the use of fulvic acid have a positive effect on antioxidant activity and quality of hot pepper under field conditions.Key words: Fulvic acid, antioxidant activity, quality, pepper

Influence of Water Stress in Association with Aplication of Brassinolide and Minerals on Growth, Physiological and Biochemical Changes of Banana (Musa acuminata cv. Berangan)

Water stress or synonymy referring to the drought season is the major abiotic stress which affect growth, physiology and biochemical activity in plant and cause major losses to agriculture production sector. This study was aimed to determine the effects of exogenous application of brassinolide (BR) and combination of minerals on growth performance, physiological and biochemical changes of banana plantlets (Musa acuminata cv. Berangan) under water stress condition. The leaves of the whole plantlets were foliar sprayed for every two weeks interval with three treatments; (i) BR as control, (ii) magnesium carbonate (MgCO3) + calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and (iii) combination of BR + MgCO3 + CaCO3. The plants were also subjected to water stress treatments: 50%, 75% and 100% of the field capacity. The treatments were assigned as split-plot design in randomized complete block design (RCBD) arrangement. Water stress had significantly reduced major growth parameters (plant height, pseudo-stem diameter and total leaf area) but enhanced accumulation of proline and malondialdehyde content in leaves tissue. These findings also provided profound new insights and water stress by regulating the changes on stomata conductance and vapour pressure deficit under severe water stress condition

Influence of Water Stress in Association with Aplication of Brassinolide and Minerals on Growth, Physiological and Biochemical Changes of Banana (Musa acuminata cv. Berangan)

Water stress or synonymy referring to the drought season is the major abiotic stress which affect growth, physiology and biochemical activity in plant and cause major losses to agriculture production sector. This study was aimed to determine the effects of exogenous application of brassinolide (BR) and combination of minerals on growth performance, physiological and biochemical changes of banana plantlets (Musa acuminata cv. Berangan) under water stress condition. The leaves of the whole plantlets were foliar sprayed for every two weeks interval with three treatments; (i) BR as control, (ii) magnesium carbonate (MgCO3) + calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and (iii) combination of BR + MgCO3 + CaCO3. The plants were also subjected to water stress treatments: 50%, 75% and 100% of the field capacity. The treatments were assigned as split-plot design in randomized complete block design (RCBD) arrangement. Water stress had significantly reduced major growth parameters (plant height, pseudo-stem diameter and total leaf area) but enhanced accumulation of proline and malondialdehyde content in leaves tissue. These findings also provided profound new insights and water stress by regulating the changes on stomata conductance and vapour pressure deficit under severe water stress condition

Preliminary Study on the Effect of Nitrogen and Potassium Fertilization on Phytochemical Content Quality of Gynura procumbens

Gynura procumbens is an herbaceous plant. Despite the progressive reports on the pharmacological properties, many are overlooking at the importance of agronomic requirements, such as fertilization, to produce high phytochemical content which have not been conclusively concluded. The study was carried out to examine the effects of N and K interaction on physiological and phytochemical quality; to identify compositions of phytochemicals, and to determine marker compounds. Physiological and phytochemical attributes were recorded in three harvests of triplicate samples to exhibit the trend for plant quality, and statistically analyzed. Generally, N and K interaction have affected phytochemical content significantly (p<0.05) with stronger effect on physiological and biochemical attributes (p<0.01). The results have demonstrated that the following combination of fertilizer, 0 kg/ha N and 30 kg/ha K; and 90 kg/ha N and 0 kg/ha K are high and low, respectively affecting metabolite content in the plant. Lowest rate of N, moderate of K had produced significant phytochemical contents. Meanwhile, caffeic acid and kaempferol were demonstrated as marker compounds in this study. Thus, phytochemical content can be further established through the selection of appropriate N and K rates and proper abiotic stress interaction

Assessment of growth and phytochemical quality of Gynura procumbens through nitrogen, potassium fertilization and evapotranspiration replacement interaction

Despite the progressive reports on potential pharmacological properties of G. procumbens, the importance of agronomic requirements to produce high yields and phytochemical content that may vary due to environmental variations are often overlooked. Therefore, this study was conducted to examine the effects of N, K and ER interaction on the growth and phytochemical content of G. procumbens. The study was a three-factorial experiment; two rates of N and K, four rates of ER and three H time. The treatments have affected plant growth and phytochemical content significantly (p≤0.05) with stronger effect on physiology and biochemical attributes (p≤0.01). The study has shown discrete effect on growth, physiology, and phytochemicals content with N0K30>N90K0 and ER 75>50>100>25% treatment. The highest and lowest yield of plant biomass and phytochemical were observed under N0K30(70) and N90K0(25), respectively. The results have shown that the interaction and effect of treatments are highly significant (p≤0.0001) in Cond, CNB, TChlC, TPrC and TFC analysis, (p≤0.05) in NoL, CF and PWP, and not significant in TLA, Photo, TCC, TLC and TPC. The 75% ER has produced significant output of biomass as well as phytochemical content. The study also showed that low rate of N, moderate rate of K with 75% ER have produced high biomass as well as phytochemical content. Meanwhile, caffeic acid and kaempferol were demonstrated as the lead secondary metabolite compounds in this stud

Effect of different water regimes and plant growth regulators on growth, physiology and yield of banana (Musa acuminata cv. Berangan) in tropical climate

A field investigation under tropical climate was undertaken in the research plot of the Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia to study the effects of exogenous application of plant growth regulators on growth performance, physiology changes and biochemical analysis of banana plants (Musa acuminata cv. Berangan) under irrigated and rainfed condition. The experiment was laid out as split-plot in randomized complete block design. Results showed that, banana plants grown under the rainfed condition significantly reduced morphological characters such as plant height, pseudo-stem, canopy diameter, but enhanced accumulation of proline and malondialdehyde content in leaves tissue of stress-treated plants. Physiological characters which include total chlorophyll content, relative water content and electrolyte leakage were measured and has indicated significant effect under two different water regimes. Application of plant growth regulators on Berangan banana under different water regimes able to tolerate water stress conditions by changes in vapour pressure deficit as affected by decreasing stomata opening besides enhanced net photosynthesis to produce higher yield of banana fruits

Antifungal, anti-inflammatory and cytotoxicity activities of three varieties of Labisia pumila benth : from microwave obtained extracts.

Background: Labisia pumila, locally known as Kacip Fatimah, is a forest-floor plant that has tremendous potential in the herbal industry. It is one of the five herbal plants identified by the government as one of the national key economic areas to be developed for commercial purposes. There are three varieties of L. pumila namely, L. pumila var. pumila, L. pumila var. alata and L. pumila var. lanceolata and each has its own use.Methods: The leaves and roots of the three varieties of L. pumila Benth. were extracted using microwave assisted extraction (MAE). Antifungal activity of all plant extracts were characterized against Fusarium sp., Candida sp. and Mucor using the agar diffusion disc. Anti-inflammatory assays were performed using NO production by macrophage RAW 264.7 cell lines induced by LPS/IFN-g and cytotoxic activity was determined using several cancer cell lines and one normal cell line.Results: The overall result demonstrated that leaf and root extracts of all three varieties of L. pumila exhibited moderate to appreciable antifungal activity against Fusarium sp., Candida sp. and Mucor compared to streptomycin used as positive control. Leaf and root extracts of all varieties significantly decreased NO release. However, the root extracts showed higher activity compared to the leaf extracts. Cytotoxic activity against MCF-7, MDA-MB-231 and Chang cell lines were observed with all extracts.Conclusions: These findings suggest the potential use of L. pumila Benth. as a natural medicine and indicated the possible application of this medicinal plant such anti inflammatory activity and cytotoxic agents

Possible enhancement of antioxidative activities in medicinal in herbal plant through nitrogen fertilization.

An experiment was designed to characterize the relationship among gluthatione (OSH) production, oxidized gluthatione (OSSG), total flavonoid, anthocyanin, ascorbic acid and antioxidant activities (FRAP, DPPH) in three varieties of Labjsja pumila Blume (var. alata,pumila, lanceolata) under four nitrogen fertilization levels (0, 90, 180,270 kg N/ha). Nitrogen (N) fertilization imposed acute impact on the production of GSH and GSSG, anthocyanin, total flavonoid and ascorbic acid that increased steadily with decreasing N level from 270 to 0 kg N/ha. Neither varietal nor its interaction with N level being observed. At the highest N level, L. pumila exhibited significantly lower antioxidant activities than those exposed to limited N-growing condition. Significant positive correlations were obtained among antioxidant activities, total flavonoid, GSH, GSSG, anthocyanin and ascorbic acid suggesting an increase in antioxidative activities in L. pumila under low N fertilization could be attributed to high contents of these compounds. It could also be concluded that the quality of L. pumila could be enhanced with manipulation of N fertilization, and that excessive N application should be avoided to ensure high herbal quality

Effects of different light intensity on biosynthesis of medicine component (Phenolics and Flavonoids) and anti-oxidant activities in Malaysia young ginger varieties (Zingibber officinale Roscoe) under controlled environment

Plants secondary metabolites are considered to be able to modulate the human body’s biochemical and physiological processes, including its immunity systems. In light of this belief, research on medicine plants functional is widely conducted, including identification of bioactive compounds, evaluation on the interactions between plants compounds and specific functions in the body, and its immune modulation capability. Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is one of traditional folk medicinal plants and it is widely used in cooking in Malaysia. Four levels of greenhouse light intensities includes 310, 460, 630 and 790 umol m-2s-1 used in order consider effect of light intensities on production, accumulation and partitioning of total phenolics (TP), total flavonoids (TF) and antioxidant activities in tow varieties of Zingiber officinale. TF biosynthesis was highest in Halia Bara varieties under 310 μmol-2s-1 and TP was high in this variety under 790 μmol-2s-1 of light intensity. High content of these components accumulated in leaves and after that in rhizomes. Also antioxidant activities determined by the 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) in both of varieties with increasing in TF concentration increased significantly (p<0.01) and high antioxidant activities observed in leaves of Halia Bara grown under 310 μmol-2s-1

Fatty acid composition, antioxidant and antibacterial properties of the microwave aqueous extract of three varieties of Labisia pumila Benth

BACKGROUND: The present study was conducted in order to evaluate the fatty acid profile, anti-oxidant and anti-bacterial activities from the microwave aqueous extract of the leaves of three different varieties of Labisia pumila Benth. RESULTS: The chemical analysis of the extract showed that fatty acids (palmitic, palmitoleic, stearic, oleic, linoleic and α-linolenic) acid as the main components in three varieties of L. pumila leaves. Furthermore, the obtained results of the anti-oxidant revealed that L. pumila var. alata contained higher anti-oxidative activities compared to var. pumila and var. lanceolata. However, these values were lower than the tested anti-oxidant standards. On the other hand, the aqueous leaf extracts in all three varieties of L. pumila were also found to inhibit a variable degree of antibacterial activities against eight bacteria (four Gram-positive and four Gram-negative bacteria). CONCLUSIONS: In this study, it was observed the leaves of three varieties of L. pumila exhibited variable patterns of fatty acids and the microwave aqueous extraction possess anti-oxidant and anti-bacterial activities