As a Natural Antioxidant: Sesbania Grandiflora Leaf Extract Enhanced Growth and Yield Performance, Active Ingredients and Tolerance of Hibiscus Sabdariffa L. Under Salt-Affected Soil

• Published in: Journal of soil science and plant nutrition 2024-06, Vol.24 (2), p.3406-3420
• Main Authors: El-Serafy, Rasha S., Dahab, Abeer A., Ghanem, Kholoud Z., Elhakem, Abeer, Bahgat, Abdel-Raouf, Venkatesh, Jelli, El-Sheshtawy, Abdel-Nasser A., Badawy, Anas A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agricultural production; Agriculture; Analytical chemistry; Antioxidants; Ascorbic acid; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Carbohydrates; Crop growth; Crop production; Crops; Ecology; Environment; Flavonoids; Herbal medicine; Hibiscus sabdariffa; Horticulture; Ingredients; Leaves; Life Sciences; Medicinal plants; Metabolites; Nutrients; Original Paper; Particle size; Performance evaluation; Pharmaceuticals; Phenols; Phytochemicals; Pigments; Plant extracts; Plant growth; Plant production; Plant Sciences; Plants; Plants (botany); Public health; Roselle; Saline soils; Scavenging; Seeds; Sesbania grandiflora; Soil Science & Conservation; Stimulators
• ISSN: 0718-9508; 0718-9516
• DOI: 10.1007/s42729-024-01763-4

Recently, Sesbania grandiflora (L.) Poir. trees gained great attention due to their potent concentration of antioxidants and active compounds, which can be employed in many fields. Employing natural antioxidants to enhance crop growth and production is an important topic owing to their beneficial effects on public health, particularly in the production of medicinal and aromatic plants under stressful conditions. However, there are no studies that have examined the effect of Sesbania grandiflora leaf extract (SLE) as a stimulator on medicinal plant production. Hence, this investigation aims to shed more light on this gap. This study was carried out to evaluate the efficiency of SLE on the plant performance, calyx yield, and therapeutic values of Hibiscus sabdariffa L. grown under saline conditions. Roselle plants were foliarly sprayed with SLE at SLE1 (10%), SLE2 (20%), SLE3 (30%), and SLE4 (40%). Control plants were foliar sprayed with water. The obtained results revealed that plant height, fruit traits, and sepal yield were significantly improved following SLE supplementation as compared to untreated plants. Secondary metabolite levels were also enhanced by SLE. In addition, the leaf pigments, total phenolics, ascorbic acid, carbohydrates, protein, ferric reducing antioxidant potential (FRAP assay), radical scavenging DPPH assay, antioxidant activity (IC50), and nutrients of roselle leaves were improved due to SLE foliar spray. Among the SLE doses applied, SLE 30% was the most effective dose, as it increased the sepal yield ha − 1 by 63 and 45.1% over the control for the first and second seasons, respectively, and decreased the antioxidant activity (IC50) of roselle leaves by 22.8 and 21.2% lower than the control plants for the first and second seasons, respectively. Conclusively, the results obtained indicated that roselle plants growing in saline soil could benefit from SLE as a natural growth stimulator.