Foliar concentrations and seasonal dynamics of nutrients in Petiveria alliacea (L.)

[摘要] Introduction: Petiveria alliacea (L.) -called pipí, anamú or guiné- is a member of the family Phytolaccaceae used as herbal medicine for different illnesses and marketed as dietary supplement and immunomodulator. Its properties have been reported as anti inflammatory, immunostimulant, analgesic, antimicrobial, hypoglycemic, anticonvulsive and abortive. Chemical analysis of tissues is a diagnostic technique that allows using the mineral concentration as an indicator of nutritional status and obtaining in situ nutrient levels of reference in order to interpret foliar analysis for each substrate and phenological phase of the crop. Objective: to determine the foliar concentration and the seasonal dynamic of nitrogen, phosporus, potassium, sulphur, iron, cupper, manganese, and zinc in Petiveria alliacea plants grown in the bioenvironment on the north of Corrientes fprovince. Methods: the genetic material was 2 years-old Petiveria sp. plants and was evaluated from 2005 to 2007. Infostat program-based summary statistics served to analyze the results. Results: the foliar concentrations of nitrogen, potassium and sulfur tend to be higher in the spring and the summer. The foliar phosphorus concentration is invariable throughout the year. Iron, manganese and zinc are accumulated specially in the winter months, whereas the copper concentrations decreased significantly in the autumn and the winter.Conclusions: foliar concentrations of nutrients in Petiveria alliacea plants growing on the north of Corrientes province are within the range of normal values for other species, and the seasonal dynamics of these plants is mainly linked to the environmental conditions.

[学科分类] 药理学

[关键词] : foliar concentrations;macronutrients;micronutrients;Petiveria alliacea;Phytolaccaceae