Identification of potential accessions of Asparagus racemosus for root yield and shatavarin IV content

PL Saran; S Singh; VH Solanki; G Devi; RV Kansara; P Manivel

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e05674

. 2020 Dec 10;6(12):e05674. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e05674

Identification of potential accessions of Asparagus racemosus for root yield and shatavarin IV content

PL Saran ^a,^∗, S Singh ^b, VH Solanki ^b, G Devi ^c, RV Kansara ^b, P Manivel ^a

PMCID: PMC7734231 PMID: 33336097

Abstract

Successful restoration of over exploited species (Asparagus racemosus) depends upon variability, conservation and cultivation. Twelve elite accessions were characterized for fifteen quantitative and qualitative traits for sustainable cultivation and industrial uses. The evaluated accessions varied in morphology, herbage, root yield and shatavarin IV content. The accession DAR-7 was showing maximum herbage yield (1860 and 1850 g plant⁻¹), fresh root weight (36.33 and 37.33 g plant⁻¹), root girth (18.25 and 18.45 cm) and root yield (14.26 and 12.79 kg plant⁻¹) in both the harvesting years. Shatavarin IV content in roots was maximum in DAR-14 (152.06 and 151.72 μg g⁻¹), followed by DAR-28 (81.16 and 83.16 μg g⁻¹). For economic yield accessions DAR-7, DAR-19, DAR-14, DAR-28 were found superior therefore, they may be further used in crop improvement program as valuable selection. In the cropping system they may act as a viable replacement of traditional crops viz., cumin, gram, cotton and groundnut. Asparagus cultivated under high density plantation ensured high economic return (Rs. 4.87 l ha⁻¹year⁻¹) with 3.66 B: C ratio, therefore, it could be considered a high returns substitute for traditional crops.

Keywords: Accessions·Asparagus racemosus, Root yield, Shatavarin IV content, Sustainability, Chemistry, Food science, Agricultural science, Biological sciences, Social sciences

Accessions·asparagus racemosus; Root yield; Shatavarin IV content; Sustainability; Chemistry; Food science; Agricultural science; Biological sciences; Social sciences.

1. Introduction

Lesser known horticultural plants as raw material has been used by people since time immemorial throughout the world for food, edible products, culinary ingredients besides medicinal, ornamental and aesthetic purposes. They are genetically very diverse group and play a major role in modern society end economy as well (Hayes et al., 2008).

The centre of origin for Shatavari (Asparagus racemosus) belongs to Liliaceae family originated from eastern parts of the world wherein Indian peninsular is also included. A. racemosus is commonly known as Satawar, Satamuli and Shatavari in Indian subcontinent. The genus Asparagus comprised about 350 species and in India, around 22 species of asparagus, A. racemosus (AR) are frequently and commonly used in traditional or indigenous medicine system (Gaur, 1999; Goyal et al., 2003). Prevalence of Asparagus in India and its habitat is found in tropics, sub-tropics and in Himalayan ranges up to 1000–1500 m. The species considered as endangered in its natural habitat which warrants sustainable conservation and cultivation as a top priority. It is required to understand the existing genetic variability for the successful retrieval of these species (Bopana and Saxena, 2007). Satavari grown as wild in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, lower and foothills of Himalayas. Usually, this plant prefers light to medium soils. Cultivation in sandy, sandy loam and silt type soils are in vogue but black, deep, loose and well-drained fertile sandy loam soils are considered to be suitable for cultivation. A soil with a pH of 6–7 neutral to slightly alkaline is optimum for higher yield but sustainable yield can easily be cultivated up to pH 8, electrical conductivity 0.15, organic carbon 0.79 % and phosphorus 7.3 kg acre⁻¹. Even under gravelly and rock soils there is formation of roots with minimum soil depth 30 cm (Goyal et al., 2003; Anupam et al., 2012). The roots are ready for harvesting after six months of transplanting and life cycle is likely to continue up to 15 years (Goyal et al., 2003; Joshi, 2016). On turning of plants to yellow after 18 months, is indicative of the time of harvesting. Winter season (November–December) considered to be best time for harvesting tuberous roots of crop.

Roots are rich source of steroidal saponins showing different properties and thus find numerous pharmacological uses (Joshi, 2016; Saran et al., 2019b). It is known to having a wide range of chemical constituents viz. saponins, alkaloids, proteins and tannins (Zhang et al., 2018). Other important phytochemical ingredients in asparagus are arginine, tyrosine, asparagine, flavonoids, essential oils, resin and tannins (Negi et al., 2010; Joshi, 2016). Shatavari are low in calories, sodium and also a good source of nutritious starch. Besides, it is a rich source of proteins, dietary fibre and vitamins (A, C, B₁, B₂, E and folic acid). In addition to that plants also contain minerals viz., Ca, Mg and P; therefore, it is widely used in health tonics. Besides, it is also used for multiple health benefits for improving vitality and fertility in human being. Entire plant contains saponins but roots are the richest source of saponins (Shatavarins I-IV) (Kamat et al., 2000; Thakur and Sharma, 2015). Diversity for morphological characters as well as bioactive compounds were reported in different asparagus species (Negi et al., 2010; Shrestha et al., 2016). The present investigation aims to identify accession suitable for industrial purposes based on morphological parameters (root yield) and bioactive compounds from roots of different accessions.

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Experimental site

The experiments were carried out at the ICAR-Directorate of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Research (DMAPR), Boriavi, Anand, Gujarat India, during 2011-12 and 2015–16. Harvesting at four years interval was carried out during 2015-16 and 2019–20, respectively. The experimental site located at 22^◦35′ N and 72^◦55’ E at an altitude of about 45.1 m above MSL, falling in semiarid, subtropical climate with hot dry summers and mild winters.

2.2. Plant materials

Selected accessions were harvested and measured for root weight and yield contributing parameters. The suckers of accessions were transplanted in replicates of three at spacing of 100 × 200 cm (plant to plant and row to row) and each accession was replicated thrice. The crop was irrigated once in every month except rainy season. One hand weeding was also carried out to avoid the weed competition. All the standard agronomic practices under crop production were followed. The observations were recorded at the harvesting stage for fresh herbage yield, stem diameter, spike length, spike girth, internodal length, number of cladodes, fruit girth and fruit height. Parameters for observations were fresh root weight, root length, root girth, full root length, root yield and thickness of central root portion of all the selected accessions using standard methods. The mean value of three replications from each treatment served for analysis in both the harvests. Roots were separated from plants for measuring root parameters dried properly after peeling at room temperature so as to reach constant moisture content.

2.3. Determination of shatavarin IV

Certified Reference Material for Shatavarin IV (99.9 %, Sigma Aldrich, Germany), MS Grade methanol, MS Grade water, MS Grade acetonitrile (Merck, Darmstadt, Germany) and formic Acid (99.5+%, Optima™, Fisher Chemical, Fair lawn, NJ, USA) was used for the quantitative analysis on LC-MS/MS.

The peeled dried roots of A. racemosus were ground to a fine powder, kept in air tight container and stored in a deep freezer at -20 °C for further analysis of shatavarin-IV content. The shatavarin-IV content was determined using the protocol as standardized with some minor modifications (Saran et al., 2019b). For this approximately 50 mg dried root samples of A. racemosus were taken into screw-capped tubes having 10 ml methanol and heated at 50 °C for 5 min. Thereafter, tubes were centrifuged (Eppendorf 5804, Germany) at 4000 rpm for 5 min. For the Shatavarin IV quantification on LC-MS/MS, supernatant was collected and filtered through 0.2 μm PTFE membrane filter in a 2 ml capacity vial. A Thermo Scientific made TSQ Quantum Access MAX triple stage quadrupole mass spectrometer was used for quantitative analysis of shatavarin-IV. A Dionex made ultra-high-performance liquid chromatograph (UHPLC) system equipped with an autosampler, a quaternary pump system and a column compartment was used to separate shatavarin IV. Optimized parameters for Shatavarin IV are mentioned below:

❖UHPLC Parameters

$\begin{array}{l} Column: Hypersil Gold® C 18 column 150 × 4.6 mm; 5 μm particle size \\ Mobile Phase: & \begin{array}{l} Solvent A: Water with 0.1 % formic acid \\ Solvent B: Acetonitrile with 0.1 % formic acid \end{array} \\ Flow: Gradient \\ Flow rate: 0.3 ml/min \\ Gradient profile: (t (min), % B) : (0, 0), (2, 0), (10, 65), (17, 95), (20, 35), (28,0), (30,0) \\ Retention time (RT) : & 12.89 min \end{array}$

❖MS Parameters

$\begin{array}{l} Source of ionization: & Heated Electrospray Ionization (HESI) \\ Capillary voltage: & 5000 V (Negative ion mode) \\ Vaporizer temperature: & 350 °C \\ Sheath gas (N 2) : & 35 unit \\ Aux gas (N 2) : & 10 unit \\ Capillary temperature: & 270 °C \\ Tube lens: & 145 °V \\ Precursor ion (m / z) : & 885.6 \\ Product ion (m / z) : 739.3 (Collision energy: 38 eV); 221.4 (Collision energy: 64 eV); 179.0 (Collision energy: 44 eV) \end{array}$

Intermediate and working standards were prepared (4 Methanol: 1 Water v/v) from the stock solution (339.6 μg ml⁻¹) and stock solution was prepared in the MS grade methanol stored at - 20 °C (Saran et al., 2019c). Linearity of Shatavarin IV at various concentration levels (1, 2.5, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 250, 500 ng mL⁻¹) on LC-MS/MS exhibited linear response with correlation coefficient (R²) of 0.998 (Fig. 1A and B). Sensitivity of the analytical method was drove out in terms of limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) considering proper signal-to-noise ratio. Mathematically, values assumed for LOD and LOQ were 2.5 ng mL⁻¹ and 7.5 ng mL⁻¹, respectively as described (Saran et al., 2019).

Optimization of chromatographic separation of shatavarin IV on UHPLC-MS/MS. A) Specificity of shatavarin IV. B) Calibration curve of shatavarin IV.

Fifteen characters were recorded using shrub cladode, fruit and root specimens from 12 accessions of this crop. Data of various characters were standardized by using the YBAR option using the NTSYS-pc 2.1 software (Rohlf, 2000). Identical measurements for each specimen were averaged and used to design a data matrix of pairwise similarities between accessions. As the simple matching coefficient (SMC) with the best results following a cophenetic test, therefore, it was used to calculate the similarity. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to describe non-hierarchical relationships among the accession. Eigenvalues and eigenvectors were measured by the Eigen program using a correlation matrix as input or data and 2-D plot was used to generate the two-dimensional PCA plot from NTSYS-pc 2.1 (Rohlf, 2000).

2.4. Economics under high density plantation

Front-line demonstrations (FLD) in 2.5 ha area during 2016-17 were laid out in farmers field located at Botad, Bhavnagar, Gujarat. Earlier farmers are doing cultivation of cotton, groundnut, jeera, gram and getting approximately Rs. 1.6 Lakhs ha⁻¹ year⁻¹. These crops were replaced by shatavari under high-density plantation (45 × 60 cm) with drip irrigation system. On an average, fresh and dry root yield (40.8 t ha⁻¹ and 4.13 t ha⁻¹, respectively) was obtained from harvests after 24 months of the plantation. The primary data were collected through personal interview using a pre-tested questionnaire. To examine the economics, simple cost accounting method was followed and the financial feasibility was worked out by comparing costs and returns. The prices used in the analysis were averages for the period 2018–19.

2.5. Statistical analysis

The analysis of variance was done in randomized block design for various observations observed during the experiment by using statistical software SAS 9.2. DMRT comparisons among the different shade-net intensities. The results were presented at 5% level of significance (P = 0.05). The critical difference (CD) values were calculated to compare the various treatment means.

3. Results

3.1. Quantitative and qualitative variations

Twelve accessions of shatavari were evaluated for morphological variations and yield attributing characters after four years of plantation at two harvesting years (Tables 1 and 2). The results revealed DAR-7 accession to have maximum herbage yield (1860 and 1850 g plant⁻¹), fresh root weight (36.33 and 37.33 g plant⁻¹), root girth (18.25 and 18.45 cm), root yield (14.26 and 12.79 kg plant⁻¹) and thickness of a central portion of the root (2.48 and 2.49 mm) during both the years of harvest (Figures 2 and 3).

Table 1.

Evaluation of A. racemosus accessions for growth and carpological parameters.

Accession	Fresh herbage yield (g plant⁻¹)		Stem diameter (mm)		Spike length (mm)		Spike base girth (mm)		Internode length (cm)		Number of cladodes (branchlet⁻¹)		Fruit girth (mm)		Fruit height (mm)
Accession	2015–16	2019–20	2015–16	2019–20	2015–16	2019–20	2015–16	2019–20	2015–16	2019–20	2015–16	2019–20	2015–16	2019–20	2015–16	2019–20
DAR-7	1860^a	1850^a	9.45^b	9.02^c	1.33^cd	1.27^de	3.58^e	3.57^e	2.53^de	2.50^cd	108.33^ab	108.33^a	5.07^def	5.11^e	4.75^bc	4.80^bc
DAR-10	1090^de	790^e	9.64^b	9.57^b	1.70^b	1.70^c	4.35d	4.23^d	2.57^de	2.53^cd	54.33^de	48.67^d	5.83^c	5.82^cd	4.53^cd	4.58^c
DAR-11	1770^ab	1720^ab	9.12^bc	9.15^bc	1.10^e	1.07^e	3.59^e	3.56^e	3.17^a	3.13^a	115.67^a	110.67^a	8.90^a	8.87^a	5.31^a	5.28^a
DAR-14	1790^ab	1750^ab	8.50^c	8.63^cd	1.50^c	1.45^d	4.75^c	4.72^c	2.33^ef	2.30^de	50.33^e	52.33^cd	6.02^c	6.11^bc	4.54^cd	4.63^bc
DAR-19	1800^ab	1720^ab	9.02^bc	9.03^c	2.27^a	2.33^a	5.22^b	5.26^b	2.23^fg	2.27^de	86.33^bc	79.67^bc	4.86^ef	4.87^e	3.54^fg	3.58^e
DAR-26	1010^e	1010^d	9.16^bc	9.26^bc	1.27^de	1.30^d	2.78^f	2.82^f	2.07^g	2.03^e	87.33^bc	83.67^ab	6.69^b	6.65^b	5.06^ab	5.09^ab
DAR-28	1250^cde	1170^cd	9.70^b	9.17^bc	1.40^cd	1.37^d	3.76^e	3.73^e	2.20^fg	2.17^e	78.33^cd	71.33^bcd	5.49^cde	5.34^de	3.96^ef	3.88^de
DAR-40	1350^cde	1070^d	9.81^b	9.57^b	1.80^b	1.77^c	4.71^c	4.75^c	2.87^bc	2.90^ab	87.33^bc	84.33^ab	5.62^cd	5.77^cd	4.26^de	4.14^d
DAR-44	1570^abc	1340^bc	9.42^b	9.60^b	2.20^a	2.17^ab	4.10^d	3.75^e	2.13^fg	2.17^e	70.33^cde	66.33^bcd	4.69^f	4.72^e	3.45^g	3.47^e
DAR-51	1440^bcd	1320^bcd	9.25^bc	9.05^c	1.13^e	1.07^e	2.85^f	2.81^f	3.03^ab	3.00^ab	74.00^cde	71.33^bcd	8.79^a	8.71^a	5.02^ab	4.97^abc
DAR-54	1250^cde	1060^d	9.34^b	9.31^bc	1.40^cd	1.37^d	4.74^c	4.71^c	2.63^cd	2.73^bc	57.67^de	59.67^bcd	5.93^c	5.92^cd	4.87^abc	4.91^abc
DF	1740^ab	1670^abc	10.79^a	10.78^a	2.13^ab	2.10^b	5.64^a	5.52^a	2.70^cd	2.73^bc	56.67^de	54.33^cd	5.40^cde	5.84^cd	4.73^bc	4.74^bc

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Means with the same letter (superscript) in the columns do not showing significantly different (P = 0.05) – (Duncan Multiple Range Test).

Table 2.

Evaluation of A. racemosus accessions for root characters.

Accession	Fresh root weight of rootlet (g)		Root length (cm)		Root girth (cm)		Fill root length (cm)		Root yield per plant (kg)		Thickness of central part of roots (mm)		Shatavarin IV (μg g⁻¹)
Accession	2015–16	2019–20	2015–16	2019–20	2015–16	2019–20	2015–16	2019–20	2015–16	2019–20	2015–16	2019–20	2015–16	2019–20
DAR-7	36.33^a	37.33^a	29.50^bcd	29.57^abc	18.25^a	18.45^a	18.10^fg	17.40^de	14.26^a	12.79^a	2.48^a	2.49^a	19.81^e	18.21^e
DAR-10	26.67^b	23.67^b	27.57^cd	27.07^bc	13.24^bc	13.23^b	19.43^ef	17.97^de	5.22^f	4.08^e	1.58^de	1.57^cde	30.73^d	31.33^d
DAR-11	28.33^b	26.67^b	37.36^ab	38.93^ab	13.81^b	13.78^b	34.65^a	29.40^ab	7.72^d	7.31^bc	1.41^fg	1.39^e	67.22^c	72.07^c
DAR-14	26.67^b	25.67^b	37.86^a	39.50^a	13.36^bc	12.90^bc	23.44^cd	23.23^cd	6.17^ef	4.93^de	1.55^ef	1.56^cde	152.06^a	151.72^a
DAR-19	24.33^bc	24.33^b	32.83^abc	32.67^abc	11.66^de	11.59^cde	24.89^c	24.83^bc	11.00^b	10.98^ab	1.69^cd	1.70^bcd	11.45^f	10.88^g
DAR-26	15.33^d	15.33^c	29.77^bcd	29.77^abc	12.46^cd	12.46^bcd	16.07^gh	16.07^e	5.50^ef	6.17^cde	1.39^g	1.39^e	8.96^fg	8.92^h
DAR-28	25.33^b	26.33^b	31.16^abcd	31.00^abc	13.70^b	13.78^b	19.04^efg	18.80^de	6.90^de	6.54^cd	1.73^bc	1.72^bc	81.16^b	83.16^b
DAR-40	25.33^b	25.33^b	37.33^ab	36.80^ab	12.85^bc	12.34^bcd	21.77^de	22.47^cd	5.95^ef	5.90^cde	1.12^h	1.11^f	7.18^fg	5.74ⁱ
DAR-44	14.33^d	13.33^c	25.40^d	23.13^c	10.70^e	10.78^e	14.48^h	14.53^e	6.39^def	5.62^cde	1.48^efg	1.47^e	5.68^fg	5.54ⁱ
DAR-51	20.67^c	19.67^bc	31.84^abcd	31.93^abc	12.81^bc	12.93^bc	20.69^def	19.83^cde	5.46^ef	5.10^de	1.43^fg	1.39^e	27.40^d	31.40^d
DAR-54	14.33^d	14.67^c	35.28^ab	35.27^ab	11.20^e	11.02^de	17.62^fg	17.23^de	5.61^ef	6.43^cd	1.53^efg	1.53^de	4.12^g	3.15^j
DF	25.33^b	25.33^b	37.23^ab	37.23^ab	12.97^bc	12.97^bc	30.67^b	30.67^a	9.08^c	9.08^b	1.84^b	1.84^b	10.65^fg	12.98^f

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Means with the same letter (superscript) in the columns do not showing significantly different (P = 0.05) – (Duncan Multiple Range Test).

Shatavari accessions with distinct morphological characters (spine and central part of roots).

Variation for root morphology and root yield in shatavari accessions.

Accession DF registered maximum stem diameter (10.79 and 10.78 mm) and spike base girth (5.64 and 5.52 mm) were observed for both the harvesting years, respectively. The highest spike length was observed in DAR-19 (2.27 and 2.33 mm), while minimum in DAR-11 (1.10 and 1.07 mm) (Figure 2). Maximum internode length (3.17 and 3.13 cm), number of cladodes per branchlets (115.67 and 110.67), fruit girth (8.90 mm and 8.87 mm), fruit height (5.31 and 5.28 mm) and fill root length (34.65 and 29.40 cm) were observed in DAR-11. Maximum root length (37.86 and 39.50 cm) was recorded in DAR-14 followed by DAR-11 (37.36 and 38.93 cm), while minimum in DAR-44 (25.40 and 23.13 cm) for both harvesting years (Table 2 and Figure 3). The Shatavarin IV contents in roots of different shatavari accessions were subjected to chemical characterization in order to determine medicinal property of raw drugs. The roots were harvested during last week of December for quality analysis. Highest recovery of Shatavarin IV was recorded in DAR-14 (152.06 and 151.72 μg g⁻¹) followed DAR-28 (81.16 and 83.16 μg g⁻¹), while minimum in DAR-54 (4.12 and 3.15 μg g⁻¹) in both the harvest (Table 2 and Figure 4). The primary shoot characters like stem diameter, spike length, spike base girth, internodal length, number of cladodes, fruit size and root characters like root length, root girth, fill root length, thickness of central part of roots play major role in production, identification, cataloguing and documentation of wild species for improvement. The morphological and chemical characterization provide the information on extent of variability and step towards identification of elites for root yield and shatavarin-IV content with distinct characters. Comparative analysis based on the fifteen morphological and biochemical characters was carried out and results revealed significant variation. A dendrogram generated from morphometric data grouped all 12 accessions into different clusters. In the 2-D plot, accessions DAR-14, DAR-11 have been grouped in one cluster and DAR-7 and DAR-28 in another cluster (Figure 5). However, accession namely, DAR-7, DAR-54, DAR-51 and DAR-19 were distinct in 2-D plot. As important source of breeding program, the morphological and biochemical markers of shatavari can be successfully exploited.

LC–MS/MS chromatograms of shatavari accessions.

Genotype by trait biplots and trait relationship analysis (2-D).

3.2. Economics

This shatavari accession DAR-26 was selected decisively for cultivation at farmer's field due to medium to small fill root and spine length suitable for the gravelly or culturable wasteland. It prefers moist, humid and arid conditions for cultivation. Roots harvesting of FLD at 24 months of transplanting were carried out when the plants above ground turned green to pale yellow. FLD at farmers field fetched Rs. 4.87 l ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ net returns and B:C ratio was 3.66 over net return from the sale of dry roots (4.13 t ha⁻¹) (Figure 6).

Average year based economic parameters of shatavari cultivation under high density plantation crop harvested after two years at farmer's field.

4. Discussion

Besides the genetic constituents, morphological traits also play crucial role in the yield and production. Morphological traits of A. curillus, A. lycopodineus, A. penicillatus and A. racemosus were studied and significant variation was reported in Nepal. The variants for distinct morphological characters such as root weight, root size with root length and biochemical characters for steroidal saponin content reported in A. racemosus (Shrestha et al., 2016). Average root yield was observed 13.53 kg–4.65 kg per plant in DAR-7 and DAR-10, respectively. Variation for the time of harvesting and tuberous root yield was also reported under the Himalayan region in A. racemosus (Goyal et al., 2003; Joshi, 2016). Yield parameters also influenced by harvesting duration where roots yield was less from one-year harvest as compare to the harvesting from subsequent years. Genetic variation among the germplasm also play a major role in quantity as well as quality of roots (Saran and Meena, 2020).

Usually, entire plant parts containing saponins, however, root tuberous were the richest source of steroidal saponins. Shatavari having a wide range of steroidal saponins including steroidal glycosides (Shatavarins I-IV), whereas shatavarin IV was the principle bioactive constituent for numerous pharmacological applications. The significant difference in various steroidal saponins (shatavarin I-IV) content was reported under semi-arid conditions of India (Hayes et al., 2008; Kumar et al., 2016). It was also reported that root yield and chemical constituent affected by shade net intensity (Saran et al., 2019b). Sixty genotypes of shatavari divided in to three groups (high, low and medium) based on saponin contents (33.02–53.46 mg g⁻¹) (Kumar et al., 2016).

Simple economics worked out to attract farmers having poor soil (gravelly culturable wasteland) under high density plantation of satavari. For that, roots were harvested after 24 months of transplanting at colour turning stage of above ground parts from green to pale yellow. Crop prefers gravelly or rocky soils having at least 30 cm depth as the crop having the ability to store and capture maximum moisture from dry soils as earlier reported that gravels reflects its potential for restocking balance to stress (Goyal et al., 2003; Anupam et al., 2012; Singh et al., 2018). The highest benefit-cost ratio (BCR) 5.29 was observed when plants were sown at spacing 30 × 45 cm, followed by 45 × 45 cm. This spacing gave a significant increase in biomass yield per unit area. It accommodated a greater number of plants in per hectare area (Thakur, 2016). It might be due to a greater number of plants per unit area under high density plantation. Therefore, it could be considered as a suitable crop for field having stony soil for high returns per rupee investment as compared to traditional crops such as cumin, gram, cotton, groundnut, etc. Overall, it could be a suitable crop for degraded soils for high returns per rupee investment as compared to traditional cropping system (Saran et al., 2019a).

5. Conclusion

Among the evaluated accessions, DAR-7, exhibited maximum herbage and root yield whereas DAR-14 was containing maximum Shatavarin IV in both the harvesting years. Accessions DAR-7, DAR-19, DAR-14, DAR-28 were found at par for root yield and shatavarin IV content therefore, may be recommended in crop improvement programs and commercial cultivation as a new selection. The accession DAR-26 was found suitable for shallow, steep and stony soil under high-density plantation instead of traditional crops. Farmers can get approximately Rs. 4.87 l ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ net return with 3.66 B:C ratio over net return. DAR-26 as promising accession is being recommended as viable substitute for farmers under stony soils.

Declarations

Author contribution statement

Parmeshwar Lal Saran: Conceived and designed the experiments; Performed the experiments; Analyzed and interpreted the data; Wrote the paper.

S. Singh, V. H. Solanki,R. V. Kansara: Analyzed and interpreted the data; Contributed reagents, materials, analysis tools or data; Wrote the paper.

G. Devi: Performed the experiments.

P. Manivel: Contributed reagents, materials, analysis tools or data.

Funding statement

This work was supported by NMPB, New Delhi and NAHEP-CAAST, ICAR, New Delhi.

Data availability statement

Data included in article/supplementary material/referenced in article.

Declaration of interests statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

No additional information is available for this paper.

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research for providing the resources for conducting the experiment.

References

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Associated Data

This section collects any data citations, data availability statements, or supplementary materials included in this article.

Data Availability Statement

Data included in article/supplementary material/referenced in article.

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[bib14] Thakur S., Sharma D.R. Review on medicinal plant: Asparagus adscendens Roxb. J. Pharmaco. Phytochem. Health Care. 2015;5(3):82–97. [Google Scholar]

[bib15] Thakur U. Thesis of Dr. Yahswant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture & Forestry Solan (Nauni); 2016. Studies on the development of cultivation Practices of asparagus racemosus willd. Under mid Hill conditions of Himachal Pradesh. HP-173 230. [Google Scholar]

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PERMALINK

Identification of potential accessions of Asparagus racemosus for root yield and shatavarin IV content

PL Saran

S Singh

VH Solanki

G Devi

RV Kansara

P Manivel

Abstract

1. Introduction

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Experimental site

2.2. Plant materials

2.3. Determination of shatavarin IV

Figure 1.

2.4. Economics under high density plantation

2.5. Statistical analysis

3. Results

3.1. Quantitative and qualitative variations

Table 1.

Table 2.

Figure 2.

Figure 3.

Figure 4.

Figure 5.

3.2. Economics

Figure 6.

4. Discussion

5. Conclusion

Declarations

Author contribution statement

Funding statement

Data availability statement

Declaration of interests statement

Additional information

Acknowledgements

References

Associated Data

Data Availability Statement

ACTIONS

PERMALINK

RESOURCES

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