The Effects of Fig Tree (Ficus carica L.) Leaf Aqueous Extract on Seed Germination and Seedling Growth of Three Medicinal Plants

Liang Mao,Yao Tian,Xue Yang,Sen Shi,Chunjian Zhao,Chunying Li,Bin Qiao,Meiting Yu

doi:10.3390/agronomy11122564

Abstract

Fig tree cultivation land resources are not fully utilized and introducing them into sustainable medicinal agroforestry systems can effectively achieve resource protection and reuse. Laboratory and pot experiments were applied to study the allelopathic effects of fig tree (Ficus carica L.) leaf aqueous extract at five mass concentrations of 8.3, 10.0, 12.5, 16.7, and 25.0 g/L on the morphological and physiological indexes of mint (Mentha haplocalyx Briq.), dandelion (Taraxacum mongolicum Hand.-Mazz.), and woad (Isatis indigotica Fort.). The results showed that mint had the best seed germination rate. The leaf aqueous extract at lower concentrations had a strong promoting effect on the biomass and photosynthetic parameters of mint, dandelion, and woad. With the increase in leaf aqueous extract concentration, the superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, and catalase activity of mint, dandelion, and woad increased initially and then decreased, but the malondialdehyde content increased. The synthetic allelopathic indexes of the three medicinal plants were in the following order: mint > woad > dandelion. Both the low and medium concentration extracts (8.3 g/L–12.5 g/L) showed an obvious promoting effect, while high concentrations exhibited distinct inhibiting effects. In conclusion, mint is the most suitable medicinal plant to be interplanted with fig trees for introduction into medicinal agroforestry systems.

Highlights

Medicinal agroforestry systems are suitable for the sustainable utilization of land resources
The germination rate (GR) of dandelion and woad decreased with increasing concentrations of the fig tree leaf aqueous extract (Figure 1)
The germination potential (GP) values of mint peaked in E8.3 and decreased with increasing concentrations of the fig tree leaf aqueous extract compared to CK

Summary

Introduction

Medicinal agroforestry systems are suitable for the sustainable utilization of land resources They are able to make use of the land and water resources of the open space under forests by the planting of high-quality local medicinal plants, thereby turning a single piece of forested land into a compound ecosystem with multiple functions and structures [1,2]. In this way, the coordinated development of ecology, industry, and economy can be achieved. Medicinal agroforestry systems make full use of the land gap between returning farmland to forest, thereby improving land use yield and land production efficiency [4]

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Conclusion