Effect of Potassium Nitrate (KNO<sub>3</sub>) on Indonesian Konjac Productivity

Abstract

Indonesian konjac (IK in brief), also known as Amorphophallus muelleri Blume in Latin, is a wild plant growing in several places in Indonesian archipelago. The tuber of IK plant contains a compound called glucomannan which has high economic value since it can be used as a raw material in many industries such as medicine, cosmetic, paper, textile, synthetic rubber, and filming industries. Due to this economic value, this study was carried out in order to increase the productivity of glucomannan and bring IK into mass cultivation. For this purpose, the objective of this study is to increase the productivity of IK tubers by increasing the speed of seeds gemination process and by decreasing the dormancy period. Meanwhile, bringing IK into mass plantation will be put as a package of campaign program to educate people. To speed up the germination process and to decrease the dormancy, the method used in this study period is by improving the soaking process of IK seeds using KNO₃ solution. Its effects were investigated using a completely randomized design (CRD) with three treatments, namely, concentration of the solution, soaking time, and plant age. Then, data were collected and analyzed statistically using general linear model, analysis of variance and Duncan's multiple range test. The results indicate that soaking in that solution has a significant effect on shortening the time period for seeds to germinate. Its optimal effect was reached for 3,000 ppm of concentration with soaking time 3 hours at 14^th days after plantation (DAP). Moreover, in terms of dormancy period, that solution has reduced from 5-6 months to 2-4 months. These findings were significantly support the effective use of KNO₃ solution to answer the objective of research. The germination period has been reduced from 3-6 months to around 14 days. To the knowledge of the authors, based on the literature used in this study, these are unprecedented findings. Therefore, hopefully, it could contribute to the development of konjac-based industries and to the literature of konjac particularly Indonesian konjac.