Stimulation of crop productivity, photosynthesis and artemisinin production in Artemisia annua L. by triacontanol and gibberellic acid application

Abstract

Artemisia annua L. is an aromatic-antibacterial herb that destroys malarial parasites, lowers fevers and checks bleeding, and of which the secondary compound of interest is artemisinin. Enhanced production of the artemisinin content in the whole plant is highly desirable. Keeping in mind, the importance of this valuable antimalarial plant, field experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of triacontanol alone and in combination with gibberellic acid on growth attributes, photosynthesis, enzymatic activities, essential oil and artemisinin content and yield of Artemisia. The results indicate that combination of triacontanol and gibberellic acid (1.5 mg l−1+75 mg l−1) significantly increased activities of nitrate reductase and carbonic anhydrase by 25.9% and 21.5%, and net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance and internal CO2 by 25.4%, 14.1% and 15.4% higher, respectively, when compared to unsprayed plants. This combined treatment also significantly enhanced artemisinin content and yield (29% and 61% higher values).