Influence of Treatment of <i>Jatropha curcas</i> L. Leachates and Potassium on Growth and Phytochemical Constituents of Wheat (<i>Triticum aestivum</i> L.)

Abstract

Jatropha curcas L. commonly known as "physic nut" is an exotic species that shows invasive characters. Plantation of Jatropha species is being undertaken at a large scale for biodiesel production. The plants defoliate their leaves twice a year and have been shown to possess certain antinutritional factors. Seeds of Jatropha are removed from mature dried fruits for oil extraction and ovary walls are discarded. For the present experiments leachates from sun dried leaves and ovary walls of Jatropha curcas L. were used for analyzing their possible allelopathic effects on the growth of wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cultivar, MP-4010). Leachate treatments result in slight decrease in growth in terms of plant height, leaf area, biomass, spike length and 100 seed weight of wheat and increase in total phenols, tannins, phytic acid and free amino acids. Results suggest that the leachates of leaf and ovary wall of Jatropha curcas are slightly inhibitory, however the impact does not last long. Nevertheless, continuous plantation may lead to accumulation of damaging constituents which reflects the need for further analysis and experimentation.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi enhances salinity tolerance ofPanicum turgidumForssk by altering photosynthetic and antioxidant pathways

“…Greater accumulation of phenolics in plants subjected to stressful conditions is ascribed to the upregulation of the enzymes involved in their synthesis (Wada et al 2014). In our study, increased phenols content in stressed plants corroborate with the findings of Mehr et al (2012) for A. graveolens L., Tomar and Agarwal (2013) for wheat and Dawood et al (2014) for Vicia faba. In confirmation with our results, Nell et al (2009) also observed increased phenols content in AMF-inoculated Salvia officinalis L. plants as compared to uninoculated counterparts.…”

“…Maintaining higher K/Na ratio is believed to be important strategy adopted by plants to mitigate stress-induced deleterious changes (Wu et al 2010;Azooz et al 2011;Tomar & Agarwal 2013). Optimal concentration of potassium is essential for several important metabolic processes (Tomar & Agarwal 2013;Ahmad et al 2014). Efficient compartmentation or exclusion of deleterious ions like Na contributes to maintenance of tissue osmotic potential so that hyper-osmotic effects can be averted.…”

“…Phenols are included within the nonenzymatic antioxidants which carry the scavenging of toxic radicals and are involved in the interactions with several biotic and abiotic factors (Michalak 2006;Bartwal et al 2013;Tomar & Agarwal 2013). Phenols mediate amelioration of stress through their role in protecting oxidative stress and increasing membrane stability (Michalak 2006;Khattab 2007).…”

“…Greater concentration of Na + in cellular tissue hampers several growth and metabolic processes in plants. Maintaining higher K/Na ratio is believed to be important strategy adopted by plants to mitigate stress-induced deleterious changes (Wu et al 2010;Azooz et al 2011;Tomar & Agarwal 2013). Optimal concentration of potassium is essential for several important metabolic processes (Tomar & Agarwal 2013;Ahmad et al 2014).…”

Potassium induces positive changes in nitrogen metabolism and antioxidant system of oat (Avena sativaL cultivar Kent)

“…Filtrate was read directly on digital flame photometer using K, Na and Ca filters separately (Tomar & Agarwal 2013;Jatav et al 2014). …”