Vol. 12, Issue 9 (2023)

Author(s):
Manisha Elza Jacob, Deepa S Nair, Sreekala GS, Swapna Alex, Sajitha Rani T and Viji MM

Abstract:
Withania somnifera is a pantropic medicinal plant native to western and central India. The effect of application of chitosan as foliar spray in Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal) on growth parameters was studied in this experiment. Seeds primed with 5 mg mL^-1 chitosan solution for 4 h were used to study the effect of foliar application of chitosan in Ashwagandha. These seedlings were raised for 30 days and then transplanted imposing different treatments, viz., chitosan and chitosan nanoparticles spray, each at three different concentrations, i.e., 1 mg mL^-1, 2.5 mg mL^-1 and 5 mg mL^-1, primed seeds control and absolute control. The foliar spray treatments were given at transplanting, 15 days after transplanting and 45 days after transplanting.It was observed from the study that plants treated with foliar spray of chitosan at 2.5 mg mL^-1 (T₂) were better than other treatments in most of the growth parameters. With respect to plant height, collar girth, leaf length, leaf breadth and leaf area at 75 days after transplanting, these plants recorded the values 108.20 cm, 2.62 cm, 15.03 cm, 10.87 cm and 114.74 cm² respectively. However, the number of branches and flowering branches was highest in the treatments T₁ (1 mg mL^-1 chitosan) and T₅ (2.5 mg mL^-1 chitosan nanoparticles) followed by T₂. Hence, the study showed the positive effect of chitosan on plant growth promotion as most of the parameters showed better values with respect to control treatment.