Organic cultivation of Ashwagandha with improved biomass and high content of active Withanolides: Use of Vermicompost

PLoS One. 2018 Apr 16;13(4):e0194314. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0194314. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha) has recently been studied extensively for its health-supplementing and therapeutic activities against a variety of ailments. Several independent studies have experimentally demonstrated pharmaceutical potential of its active Withanolides, Withaferin A (Wi-A), Withanone (Wi-N) and Withanolide A (Wil-A). However, to promote its use in herbal industry, an environmentally sustainable cultivation and high yield are warranted. In modern agriculture strategies, there has been indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers to boost the crop-yield, however the practice largely ignored its adverse effect on the quality of soil and the environment. In view of these, we attempted to recruit Vermicompost (Vcom, 20-100%) as an organic fertilizer of choice during the sowing and growing phases of Ashwagandha plants. We report that (i) pre-soaking of seeds for 12 h in Vermicompost leachate (Vcom-L) and Vermicompost tea (Vcom-T) led to higher germination, (ii) binary combination of pre-soaking of seeds and cultivation in Vcom (up to 80%) resulted in further improvement both in germination and seedling growth, (iii) cultivated plants in the presence of Vcom+Vcom-L showed higher leaf and root mass, earlier onset of flowering and fruiting and (iv) leaves from the Vcom+Vcom-L cultivated plants showed higher level of active Withanolides, Withanone (Wi-N), Withanolide A (Wil-A) and Withaferin A (Wi-A) and showed anticancer activities in cell culture assays. Taken together, we report a simple and inexpensive method for improving the yield and pharmaceutical components of Ashwagandha leaves.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Biomass*
  • Cell Line
  • Cell Survival / drug effects
  • Composting
  • Fertilizers
  • Humans
  • Plant Extracts / chemistry
  • Plant Leaves / chemistry
  • Plant Leaves / growth & development
  • Plant Leaves / metabolism
  • Seeds / growth & development
  • Soil / chemistry
  • Triterpenes / chemistry
  • Triterpenes / metabolism*
  • Triterpenes / pharmacology
  • Withania / chemistry*
  • Withania / growth & development
  • Withania / metabolism
  • Withanolides / chemistry
  • Withanolides / metabolism*
  • Withanolides / pharmacology

Substances

  • 3-rhamnopyranosyl(1-4)-glucopyranosyl-12-diacetoxy-20-hydroxywitha-5,24-dienolide
  • Fertilizers
  • Plant Extracts
  • Soil
  • Triterpenes
  • Withanolides
  • withanone
  • withaferin A

Grants and funding

Financial assistance in the form of INSPIRE Fellowship (Department of Science and Technology, Government of India) to AmK as well as UPE and SAP grants (UGC) are duly acknowledged. The work was supported by DBT (Govt. of India) and AIST (Japan) funds.