TITLE:
Influence of Treatment of Jatropha curcas L. Leachates and Potassium on Growth and Phytochemical Constituents of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)
AUTHORS:
Nisha Singh Tomar, R. M. Agarwal
KEYWORDS:
Antinutritional Factors; Leachates; Allelopathic Potential; Total Phenols; Tannins; Free Amino Acids and Phytic Acid
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.4 No.5,
May
29,
2013
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.