Influence of pyridoxine and spermine on lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus) plants

Abstract

Abstract. Orabi SA, Talaat IM, Balbaa LK, Abdalla AE. 2015. Influence of pyridoxine and spermine on lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) plants. Nusantara Bioscience 7: 139-143. Two pot experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of pyridoxine and spermine (each at 50, 100 and 200 mg/L) on plant growth, essential oil yield, and its main constituents. All treatments significantly promoted plant height, fresh and dry mass (g/plant) of Cymbopogon citratus L., especially 100 mg/L spermine which mostly recorded the highest increments in total nitrogen, total phosphorous and total potassium mainly in the second cut, followed by 200 mg/L pyridoxine. Total phenols, essential oil % and oil yield recorded the maximum increments with spermine treatments followed by pyridoxine. Treatment of lemongrass plants with 100 mg/L spermine gave the highest relative percentage of citronellol (51.20%). Oxygenated compounds recorded the highest value (89.70%) with 200 mg/L spermine treatment, while the maximum non-oxygenated ones resulted from the untreated plants (13.65%). All treatments under study significantly affected the scavenging ability of the natural antioxidants of the plant extract towards the stable free radical DPPH (2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl-hydrate). Application of spermine at the concentration of 100 mg/L recorded the highest increment in phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) enzyme activity (µg/g F.wt.).