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The experiment was laid out in a Factorial Randomized Block Design with sixteen treatments and replicated three times. There was no significant difference among the treatments with respect to nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium content of leaves under different levels of planting geometry and interaction effect. But different nutrient levels had significant influence in the N, P and K content in isabgol plant. Higher N (3.76%), P (0.7%) and K (3.59 %) content in the leaves was observed when plants supplied with 75 % RDF (37.5:18.75:22.50 + 7.5 t FYM). The maximum uptake of N (229.11 kg /ha), P (43.98 kg /ha) and K (218.46 kg /ha) was found at row spacing of 22.5 cm, which was significantly superior to other spacing levels.Nutrients had significantly influenced the N, P and K uptake. The 75 % RDF (37.5:18.75:22.50 + 7.5 t FYM) level recorded maximum uptake of N (166.36 kg /ha), P (32.13 kg /ha) and K (158.39 kg /ha), which was significantly superior to all other nutrient levels.Among the interactions, 22.5 cm row spacing + 75 % RDF (37.5:18.75:22.50 + 7.5 t FYM) recorded significantly maximum N, P and K uptake (252.05, 49.31 and 238.85 kg/ha respectively). Where, RDF= recommended dose of fertlizer, FYM = Farm yard manure

The experiment was laid out in a Factorial Randomized Block Design with sixteen treatments and replicated three times. The result indicated that the spacing of 22.5cm recorded significantly maximum number of spikes (36.50), seed yield (1221 kg /ha), husk yield (305 kg/ha), swelling factor (13.70 cc /g) and protein content (11.91%) in the seeds. Among the different nutrient levels, maximum number of spikes (35.79), seed yield (904 kg /ha), husk yield (225 kg/ha), swelling factor (13.93 cc /g) and protein content (12.24 %) of seeds were obtained with the application of 75 % RDF (37.5:18.75:22.50 + 7.5 t FYM.) and the interaction of row spacing of 22.5 cm and 75% RDF recorded maximum yiled and quality parameters found non significant.

Memory enhancing herb - Brahmi (Bacopa monnieri L.) has growing national and international demand owing to its various medicinal properties. In order to study the influence of shade and nutrient levels, an experiment was laid out in strip plot design with shade levels as the main plots (35% shade, 50% shade and 100% sunlight) and nutrients requirement as sub plots [50, 75 and 100% N equivalent through FYM, 50, 75 and 100% N equivalent through vermicompost, RDF (100:60:60 kg NPK/ha), RDF (100:60:60 kg NPK/ha) + FYM (10 t/ha)]. The results revealed that among different shade levels tried, superior plant growth, fresh and dry herbage yield and cumulative dry herbage yield of seven harvests were obtained in 35% shaded condition compared to 50% shade and open conditions. Among different nutrient levels tried, conjunctive use of recommended dose of fertilizers (100:60:60 kg NPK/ha) + FYM (10 t /ha) gave the highest dry herbage yield (16.35 t/ ha), which was on par with organic treatment consisting of 100% N equivalent through FYM + Arka microbial consortium @ 12.5 kg/ha/year (16 t/ha). However, highest content of bacopasaponin C and bacoside A were observed in 100% sunlight condition (1.88 and 2.93%, respectively) and in integrated nutrient management treatment. The results were very promising for acceptance of Brahmi for commercial cultivation especially in organic production scenario to ensure steady supply of quality raw material to cater the increasing national and international demand.

Plant based drugs are being popularized in recent past owing to their long-term benefits without causing side effects. Medicinal and aromatic plants are major sources of these drugs, whose quality is largely dependent on active ingredients present in them. Today alarge number of species are on the verge of extinction due to unscientific management practices, over-exploitation, destructive harvesting, poor seed set, low seed viability, pest and disease incidence etc. Hence, there is a great need for their conservation through cultivation for which standardization of propagation methodologiesis of prime importance. Multiplication of these species clonally through cuttings can make their cultivation economicby providing true to type plants that are known to have optimum levels of active ingredients. Rooting of stem cuttings is a crucial step in plant propagation and there is great variability in the rooting ability of different species. Even though propagation through cuttings appears to be the simplest of all methods, its success depends on a number of factors and the present review concerned highlighting their importance in the context of medicinal and aromatic plants multiplication.

Salt affected soils are important group of problematic soils which has limited productivity thereby has a very serious threat to agriculture. Such salt affected soils can be categorized under different types based on its chemical nature viz., saline soil, sodic soil and saline-sodic soil. India has about 6.74 M ha of salt affected soils which are needed to be reclaimed timely for better use and production of agricultural lands. Conventional chemical methods are readily available to ameliorate the salt affected soil. However, certain constraints like limited availability, high cost and presence of impurities restrict its application. So, some easy and cost-effective methods like biological approaches may be explored. Phytoremediation was found to be promising biological approach to ameliorate the salt affected soils while neglecting constrains of chemical amendments. Phytoremediation was found to exchange the Na+ by effectively dissolving the Ca2+ in the soil solution. In this chapter, different strategies are discussed under subsequent heads which witnesses the improvement in soil properties. Here, aromatic plants very promising and can be utilized effective tool for phytoremediation. In a long run, they aid in improvement of soil quality by ameliorating the salt affected soils while maintaining biological yield.

Retention of quality in herbal drugs during drying and storage is of great concern and the information is lacking in an important memory enhancing medicinal herb Brahmi (Bacopa monnieri L.). This is the first ever report on effect of drying methods, packaging materials as well as storage duration on the bacoside A profile and microbiological quality. Freshly harvested herbage was dried with five different methods of drying viz., shade, sun, solar tunnel, cabinet, low cost polyhouse, followed by packing dried herbage for five months duration in different containers viz., polythene lined jute bags, woven polypropylene sacks, corrugated fiber board boxes, and 125 μm thick high density polyethylene containers. Drying of fresh herbage at 50 °C for 12 h in cabinet drier retained the highest bacoside A components compared with all other methods. Solar tunnel drying was the second best method, while conventional shade dried samples recorded lowest bacoside A level. Bacoside A profile in cabinet samples immediately after drying was 4.8 mg/g bacoside A3, 6.0 mg/g bacopaside II, 5.0 mg/g jujubogenin isomer of bacopasaponin C and 4.6 mg/g bacopasaponin C. Ambient temperature storage (23 ± 2 °C) for five months resulted in loss of bacoside A from the herbage; but packaging in high density polyethylene significantly reduced the loss compared with other packages irrespective of the drying methods. Cabinet dried samples stored in high density polyethylene packages for five months possessed 3.0 mg/g bacoside A3, 4.1 mg/g bacopaside II, 2.5 mg/g bacopasaponin C and 3.2 mg/g jujubogenin isomer of bacopasaponin C. The microbiological quality was also satisfactory during storage in high density polyethylene container. Thus, the work identified a protocol for hygienic way of drying and packaging of Brahmi to retain the bacosides during storage.

Palmarosa (Cymbopogon martini var. motia), an essential oil bearing grass of Indian origin, is highly valued by the cosmetics and perfumery industries for its sweet-smelling essential oil obtained from its inflorescences and leaves. Essential oil from the leaves and inflorescence of fifteen promising palmarosa breeding clones (DCM1–DCM15) developed, mixture of fifteen clone (DCM16) and a check, variety Trishna (DCM17) was extracted at four developmental stages ((I) unopened spikelets, (II) fully opened spikelets with yellow anthers fully visible, (III) partially mature spikelets with brown and yellow anthers, and (IV) fully mature spikelets showing fully brown inflorescence) in two growing seasons (April–May and September–October). Oil was extracted using hydro-distillation, followed by analysis using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Though oil yield in different treatments ranged between 0.85–2.72% on dry weight basis, geraniol (G) content was found to be higher in inflorescence (64.76–76.28% and 63.88–90.59%) and leaves (61.25–92.54 and 76.77–94.03%) of partially and fully mature spikelets, respectively. Biosynthesis and accumulation of essential oil and geraniol were found to increase with maturity, while the trend was reverse in case of geranyl acetate (GA), irrespective of the plant part studied. Though, the amount of oil in inflorescence was higher, when compare with leaves, the geraniol content was higher in case of leaves. Fully matured spikelets with brown inflorescence were found to be the best stage for harvesting to obtain maximum essential oil with geraniol. Some of the promising clones (DCM2, DCM4, DCM9, DCM13 and DCM14) were found to have significantly higher amounts of essential oil, geraniol and lower amounts of geranyl acetate than the check variety, Trishna, and thus will have immense commercial values after their release in future for obtaining palmarosa oil.

Mentha species are cultivated as industerial crops mainly in Uttar Pradesh and parts of Punjab for production of essential oil but not commerially cultivated in Gujarat. To promote cultivation of some Mentha species in the region, promising cultivars of Mentha arvensis L. (cv. Himalaya and cv. Kosi) and M. spicata L. (cv. MSS-5) were planted in experimental fields to study their performance in ground conditions. During the initial growth period, some cultivars showed symptoms of virus infection for the first time from the region. The characteristic symptoms of the leaves were foliar rugosty, light yellow mosaic, upward curling and retarded growth. The composition of the essential oils obtained from the aerial parts of three viral infected cultivars of Mentha by hydro-distillation were determined by GC-MS. The amounts of oil in healthy and infected M. arvensis cv. Himalaya (0.46 % and 0.31 %), M. arvensis cv. Kosi (0.69 % and 0.21 %) and M. spicata cv. MSS-5 (0.59 % and 0.46 %) were recorded. Twent...

Kalmegh [Andrographis paniculata (Burm. f.) Wall. ex Nees] is known for its innumerable medicinal properties and is usually consumed in semi-processed form. Inadequate post harvest operations leads to the deterioration of quality rendering the product unsafe for consumption. Hence, in the present study the impact of washing of the herb, drying methods and packaging materials on the physico-chemical properties and phytochemical composition of Kalmegh-fresh during storage was analyzed. Fresh areal biomass of Kalmegh was subjected to five different methods of drying viz., shade, sun, solar and oven drying and five methods of packaging viz., gunny bags, polypropylene, LDPE, HDPE containers and corrugated box (CFB). The samples were subjected for physico-chemical and phytochemical analysis before drying, after drying and during storage [3, 6, 9 and 12 months after storage (MAS)]. Among different drying methods, shade drying took maximum drying time of around 22 days to reach the desired moisture content (

Decalepis hamitonii Wight and Arn. is an important RET medicinal climber which is over exploited from its natural habitat for its high valued roots. The roots are extensively used in folk and Ayurvedic medicines mainly as blood purifier and hepatoprotective compound due to the presence of 2-hydroxyl-4-methoxy benzaldehyde (HMB). The work on propagation and storage of seeds in this plant species is meagre for extending the cultivation and conservation. Therefore, the present study was taken up. The two factorial experiment was conducted on the effect of media (top paper, between paper and cocopeat) and temperature (20/30°C, 20°C, 30°C) on seed germination. Results revealed that the seeds placed at 20/30°C, tested on between paper method has recorded maximum germination percentage (96.00%), root length (6.48 cm) and seedling vigour index (955.77). Whereas, shoot length (10.40 cm), seedling length (16.14 cm), fresh (91.16 mg) and dry weight (8.76 mg) of seedling was maximum in the seeds placed at 30°C temperature sown in cocopeat. No germination was recorded when the seeds were placed at 20°C temperature sown in cocopeat. In an another experiment comprising of three factorial storage study on effect of moisture content (8% and 6%), packaging material (aluminium pouch, polythene cover and butter paper cover) and storage temperature (ambient temperature and 15°C) revealed that the seeds having 8% moisture packed in polythene cover and stored at 15°C recorded maximum shoot length, seedling length and seedling vigour index I of 7.57 cm, 14.70 cm and 1373, respectively. Shoot was not grown and minimum seedling length and seedling vigour index I of 3.60 cm and 172, respectively was recorded in the seeds having 6 per cent moisture, packed in butter paper bag and stored at 15°C up to 90 days of storage. Therefore, seeds kept for germination on between paper and placed at 20/30°C recorded germination. Whereas, seeds having 8% moisture, stored at 15°C packed with polythene and aluminium pouch was found better for maintaining viability and vigour up to 90 days of storage.

In commercial cultivation of medicinal plants, management of harvesting stages and post harvest handling play a very deciding role in the quality of the end product. Hence, a trial was conducted to study the influence of different harvesting stages and drying methods on growth, yield and alkaloid content of black night shade (Solanum nigrum L.) in both the main crop and the ratoon crop. The experiment was conducted at the Department of Horticulture, University of Agricultural Sciences, Gandhi Krishi Vigyana Kendra, Bengaluru, Karnataka. The experiment was laid out in Randomized complete block design for field experiment and factorial CRD for lab experiments. The treatments comprised of four harvesting stages (100% flowering stage, fruiting stage, mature green berry stage and berry ripening stage) and three drying methods (sun drying, shade drying and tray drying). The maximum plant height (129.1 cm), number of branches (145.9 plant−1), plant spread (12931 sq cm) and dry matter (214.1 g plant−1) were recorded in plants harvested at berry ripening stage. However, the highest number of leaves, maximum cumulative fresh (36.93 t ha−1) and dry herbage yield (7.62 t ha−1) were obtained from plants harvested at green berry stage which also resulted in maximum alkaloid content (1.02%). Drying of the harvested produce under shade was found to be beneficial in obtaining higher alkaloid content (1.07%) and alkaloid yield (85.63 kg ha−1) of the final produce. Hence, harvesting black night shade at mature green berry stage and drying the harvested produce under shade was found ideal to realize maximum fresh and dry herb yield as well as alkaloid content and yield per hectare.

An investigation was carried out during 2009–10 with an objective to determine the effects of seed storage and temperature on seed germination of Asoca (Saraca asoca (Roxb.) de Wilde). As there is a great demand for its bark coupled with shortage in supply, this plant is thus highly exploited and threatened. In this study a correlation between seed moisture content and seed germination was established. It was observed that the rate of moisture loss in seeds is indirectly proportional to the seed germination. Highest germination percentage (83.7%) was recorded at open nursery at 4 weeks after harvest followed by 25°C and 30°C at 3 weeks after harvest. The seed germinated immediately after harvest in open nursery whereas; at 25°C and 30°C, germination commenced only at two weeks after harvest. Under open nursery conditions, seeds failed to germinate eight weeks after harvest when the seed moisture content was below 22.8%. However, at 30°C, the seed germination continued up to nine weeks after harvest where the seed moisture content was