Qualitative Chemical Analysis of Some Aqueous Plant Extracts and Studying Their Biological Effectiveness on Germination and Growth of Maize (Zea mays L.) Seeds.

Medicinal plant extracts have a wide variety of chemical compounds. In this research, a qualitative study was conducted to reveal the chemical composition of the aqueous extract of figs (Ficus carica L.), mulberry (Morus alba L.) and eucalyptus (camaldulensis L.) leaves. This study included the detection of proteins, carbohydrates, phenols, flavonoids, glycosides, alkaloids, tannins, steroids, and saponins. The phytochemical analysis of the aqueous extracts from the studied plants leaves showed the presence of bioactive constituents like proteins, carbohydrates, phenols, flavonoids, glycosides and tannins in all mentioned extracts, while revealing the absence of alkaloids from mulberry and eucalyptus extracts, steroids from fig extract, and saponins from mulberry extract. Different concentrations of aqueous extracts (5, 10, 15, 25, 50 and 75%) were evaluated for efficiency against germination and growth of Zea mays L. Using distilled water as a control, the germination percentage, and root and shoot length were observed. The results showed beneficial effects and a slight improvement in the percentage of germination and the above growth parameters compared with the control using mulberry extract at 5% and eucalyptus extract at 10%; however, higher concentrations of the extracts showed a negative effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]