Enhancing yield and aloin concentration of Aloe vera plants by simultaneous application of N and benzyladenine

Abstract

Aloe vera is extensively used as a base element in preparation of medicine, cosmetics and food supplements. The objective of this study was to find out the effect of different nitrogen (N) and Benzyladenine (BA) rates on the growth, yield and aloin concentration of A. veraplants. Treatments include four levels of N (0, 500, 1000 and 1500 mg pot-1) and four levels of Benzyladenine (0, 500, 1000 and 1500 ppm). After 12 months of growth, morphological and physiological traits such as plant height, leaf number, leaf length, leaf diameter, leaf wide, leaf weight, gel fresh weight, fresh weight of leaf peel and gel to peel ratio were measured. The results showed that the concurrent application of N and BA increased the growth factors such as leaf number (23.16%), leaf thickness (23.81%), offset numbers (100%) and leaf weight (59.11%). The highest levels of aloin concentration and chlorophyll content were obtained in N1500+BA1000 ppm and N1500 mg per pot absolutely, respectively. Increasing N supply interacted positively with added BA by increasing A. verayield, growth and aloin concentration. Key words: Aloe barbadensis, aloin, benzyladenine, growth, N, yield.