Effect of different nitrogen doses on some agricultural characteristics and alkaloid content of Hyoscyamus reticulatus L and Hyoscyamus Niger L.

Abstract

Alkaloids, nitrogen containing basic substance, have a complex structure. They are one of the most important groups of secondary metabolites, which is synthesized in roots and transported to other organs. Since alkaloids are nitrogenous compounds, the availability of nitrogen is expected to play an important role in the biosynthesis and accumulation of alkaloids in plants. Nitrogen affects yield and quality of medicinal plants, therefore, growers usually apply large amount of nitrogen to obtain high yields. The objective of the present study was to determine yield, yield components and alkaloid content of two henbane species (Hyoscyamus reticulatus L. and Hyoscyamus niger L.), collected from wild flora of South-eastern Anatolia, grown under four nitrogen applications (0, 50, 100 and 200 kg ha-1), in 2010-2011 growing seasons. In the field trial, plant height, stem diameter, number of branches per plant, number of capsule per plant, capsule width, capsule length, number of seed per capsule, 1000 seed weight, seed yield per plant and total alkaloid content were investigated. The results of study showed that nitrogen doses were found important for investigated characters but not important for Hyoscyamus species. Seed yield per plant varied from 8.4 to 11.6 g per plant, their alkaloid contents were found between 0.14% and 0.21%.