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Plant Science Today (PST)

Research Articles

Vol. 13 No. sp5 (2026): Recent Advances in Agriculture

Influence of growth regulators on herb yield and andrographolide content in kalmegh (Andrographis panniculata Wall.Ex.Nees.) var. CIM Megha

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.13309
Submitted
22 December 2025
Published
30-08-2026

Abstract

The experiment was to study the effect of growth regulators on herb yield and andrographolide content in kalmegh. Kalmegh is referred to as Maha tita in Sanskrit, Rice bitters in the West Indies and King of bitters in England. Its characteristic bitterness is mainly attributed to a secondary metabolite, the diterpenoid lactone andrographolide, which is present at about 3 % in the leaves and 2 % in the stems. In the current investigation, considerable variation in yield and quality traits was recorded across the 13 treatments at College of Horticulture, Rajendranagar, Sri Konda Laxman Telangana Horticultural University. Different concentrations (100, 150 and 200 mg L-1) of plant growth regulators (gibberlic acid (GA3), naphthalene acetic acid (NAA), cycocel and benzy amino purine) were prepared by dissolving respective growth hormone powders on 2–5 drops of ethyl alcohol and plants of individual treatments were sprayed with the respective plant growth regulators at 30, 60 and 90 days after transplanting (DAT), while plots were treated with distilled water. The yield attributes revealed that treatment T2 (GA₃ at 150 ppm) produced the highest values for fresh herb yield per plot (5.01 kg), dry herb yield per plot (2.10 kg), fresh herb yield per hectare (97.08 q), dry herb yield per hectare (40.27 q), number of capsules per plant (780.21) and seed yield per plot (8.90 g), with all differences being statistically significant. With respect to quality parameters, T6 (NAA at 200 ppm) resulted in the maximum andrographolide content (2.69 %). However, the highest andrographolide yield (106.28 kg/ha) and drying percentage (34.68 %) were obtained under T2 (GA₃ at 150 ppm). The improvement in yield and quality can be attributed to better source-sink relationships, enhanced biomass accumulation and stimulation of secondary metabolite biosynthesis by growth regulators.

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