Growth and phytochemical composition of adhatoda zeylanica in response to foliar application of growth hormones and urea

Abstract

This study evaluates effects of foliar application of Kinetin, Benzyladenine and urea on growth, phytochemical and quality of active compound vacisine in Adhatoda zeylanica. Five treatments; distilled water (T1) which serves as control, 0.1% urea + 100 ppm kinetin (T2), 0.1 % urea + 100 ppm Benzyladenine (T3), 0.2% urea + 100 ppm kinetin (T4) and 0.2 % urea + 100 pm Benzyladenine (T5) were applied as foliar spray every four weeks. Growth parameters, phytochemical screening and physicochemical properties of the treated plants were evaluated. Also, bioactive compound vicisine from the leaf extract was characterised and compared with standard using High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography (HPTLC). All the treatments had better growth performances than T1, however, in term of yield, T2 has optimum effect. Phytochemical screening reveal presence of alkaloid, tannin, phenolic compounds, steroids, proteins and carbohydrates. Water and alcohol solubility, pH, and total ash values were enhance by the treatments. HPTLC analysis showed that the leaf extract active compound vicisine had same quality as the market standard. The study concludes that foliar application of growth hormones and urea in combinations and different concentrations could be used to improve growth and phytochemical yield of medicinal plants.