Influence of Treatment of Jatropha curcas L. Leachates and Potassium on Growth and Phytochemical Constituents of Wheat ( Triticum aestivum 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.