Title: Influence of Glomus intraradices on growth, biochemical changes and withanolides content of Withania somnifera L Dunal (Ashwagandha)
Abstract:Withania somnifera L. Dunal (Ashwagandha) also known as Indian ginseng, of the family Solanaceae is an important ancient medicinal plant, used in the Indian traditional system of medicine. The medicin...Withania somnifera L. Dunal (Ashwagandha) also known as Indian ginseng, of the family Solanaceae is an important ancient medicinal plant, used in the Indian traditional system of medicine. The medicinal importance of W. somnifera is attributed to the presence of steroidal lactones called withanolides which are present in the leaves and roots of the herb. The present set of pot experiment was designed to investigate the effect of Glomus intraradices inoculation on growth, biochemical parameters and withanolides content of W. somnifera. The results showed significant enhancement on plant growth, biochemical parameters and withanolide content in plant. Mycorrhizal treatment showed better vegetative growth in comparison to untreated plants. Significant increase in height, root length, and total dry weight (biomass) of AM inoculated plants as compared to non inoculated plants was observed. AM fungi considerably enhanced the levels of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium as compared to that of non-mycorrhizal plants. A considerable increase in withaferin A and withanolide a content by mycorrhization was observed. Mycorrhizal inoculation significantly affected withanolide content of W. somnifera. The results suggested that G. intraradices is a beneficial biofertilizer for increasing yield of biologically important secondary metabolites in W. somnifera.Read More