Autotoxic effects of aqueous extracts of ginger on growth of ginger seedings and on antioxidant enzymes, membrane permeability and lipid peroxidation in leaves Han C.M.1,**, Li C.L., Ye S.P., Wang H., Pan K.W.1,*, Wu N.1, Wang Y.J.1, Li W.1, Zhang L.1 Chengdu Vocational College of Agricultural Science and Technology, Chengdu-611130, China 1Key Laboratory of Mountain Ecological Restoration and Bioresource Utilization, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu610041, Sichuan Province, China *Correspondence Author: E.Mail: pankw@cib.ac.cn
**E.Mail: hanchunmei@tom.com
Online published on 7 November, 2012. Abstract We studied the effects of aqueous extracts of ginger plants on the growth membrane permeability and antioxidant enzymes in leaves of ginger seedlings. Ginger seedlings were sprayed with aqueous extracts of ginger rhizomes, stems and leaves at 10, 20, 40 or 80 g L–1 concentrations. Higher concentrations of extracts significantly inhibited the shoot height, underground (i.e. rhizome yield), total biomass of ginger seedlings and decreased the total chlorophyll content but increased the lipid peroxidation and membrane permeability. The increased concentrations of stem and leaf extracts deceased the activities of major antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, catalase and ascorbate peroxidase) in leaves of ginger seedlings. The rhizome extracts were less stimulatory at lower concentrations but became inhibitory at higher concentrations. The phytotoxicity of extract at same concentrations followed the order of decreasing inhibition: stem > leaf > rhizome. These results showed that ginger has autotoxic potential, hence, its residues (stems, leaves) should be removed from the fields to reduce the autotoxic effects on next ginger crop seedlings. Top Keywords Antioxidant enzyme, aqueous extracts, autotoxicity, leaf, membrane permeability, Rhizome, stem, Zingiber officinale. Top |