Abstract
The micropropagation technique is used for Gerbera species due to their high demand all over the world as the decorative potted plants and cut flowers. The present study was done to investigate the impact of biofield energy treatment on the physicochemical properties of gerbera multiplication medium. A part of the sample was treated with Mr. Trivedi’s biofield energy, and the other part was kept as untreated and termed as the control sample. Both the parts were subsequently analysed for their physical, thermal and spectral properties using X-ray diffraction (XRD), particle size analysis, surface area analysis, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), elemental analysis, and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The XRD results showed 13.98% increase in crystallite size of treated sample (104.01 nm) as compared to the control (91.25 nm). The particle size data revealed an increase in d<sub>50</sub> (average particle size) and d<sub>99</sub> (size below which 99% particles are present) by 72.57% and 42.26%, respectively of the treated sample as compared to the control. Moreover, the surface area of the treated sample was reduced from 0.694 m<sup>2</sup>/g (control) to 0.560 m<sup>2</sup>/g in the treated sample. The TGA data showed the increase in onset temperature along with the reduction in the percent weight loss of the treated sample as compared to the control. Besides, the elemental analysis revealed the significant decrease in the percentage of nitrogen (10.47%) and hydrogen (9.35%) as well as the presence of sulphur in the treated sample. The FT-IR results showed the differences in the IR frequencies corresponding to pyridine ring and N-H<sub>2</sub> deformation of the treated sample as compared to the control. Hence, the overall data revealed that the biofield energy treatment had a significant impact on the physicochemical properties of the treated sample that might help to improve its uses in the <i>in vitro</i> tissue culture techniques as compared to the control sample.
Highlights
The techniques of plant tissue culture are widely used for producing the clones of plants in a nutrient culture medium of fixed composition and maintaining the sterile conditions [1]
It is assumed that the biofield treatment provided some energy to the sample due to which the crystallite size of treated sample was increased as compared to the control
The X-ray Diffraction (XRD) data, as well as particle size studies, revealed the increase in crystallite size and particle size of the biofield treated sample suggesting the impact of energy provided through the biofield treatment
Summary
The techniques of plant tissue culture are widely used for producing the clones of plants (micropropagation) in a nutrient culture medium of fixed composition and maintaining the sterile conditions [1]. Gerbera is an elite ornamental species used as the potted plant as well as the cut flower. The Gerbera species belongs to family Asteraceae and basically found in South Africa. It is famous in South Africa for its medicinal uses, for instance, tapeworm infections, stomach ache, and cough. It is used in heart pain and abdominal pain in Zimbabwe [4]. Gerbera multiplication medium is mainly formulated for in vitro micropropagation of Gerbera. It contains various organic and inorganic compounds (Table 1) that provide different functions [6].
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