Nano-stimulants modulated morpho-physiological and anatomical attributes of lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus (DC.) Stapf)

Abstract

Lemongrass is a fragrant grass that has significant industrial potential. It is grown for its essential oil, which has a high economic value because of its multiple medical, cosmetic, and culinary uses. The goal of this study was to improve the morpho-physiological and anatomical attributes of lemongrass by using nanostructured plant growth regulators (sodium nitrophenolate and daminozide) loaded with silicon nanoparticles to promote sustainable agriculture. In the present study, different concentrations of sodium nitrophenolate Si-NPs and daminozide Si-NPs, such as (control, 100 mg L-1, 200 mg L-1 and 300 mg L-1) were applied. There was a total of seven treatments and each treatment was replicated three times, resulting in 10 plants. The experiment was designed using a randomized complete block design (RCBD), and data were analyzed using Fisher's analysis of variance (ANOVA). Tukey's test was used to compare treatment means at a 5% probability level. Maximum plant height (120.62 cm), number of tillers (27.36), number of leaves (135.29), leaf length (78.66 cm), plant fresh weight (4531 g), plant dry weight (1510 g), photosynthetic rate (66.43 μmolm-2s-1), transpiration rate (0.60 mmol m-2s-1), stomatal conductance (0.088 mol m-2s-1), total leaf chlorophyll contents (25.8 SPAD), epidermal thickness (88.42 μm), cortical region thickness (684.40 μm), aerenchyma cell area (0.271 mm2), metaxylem area (0.269 mm2), phloem area (0.158 mm2) and pith region(654.12 μm) were found in T3 treatment (300 mg L-1 sodium nitrophenolate Si-NPs) and leaf width showed non-significant results among the treatments. It is concluded that 300 mg L-1 Sodium nitrophenolate Si-NPs significantly improved the morpho-physiological and anatomical parameters of lemongrass plant.