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SPATIO-TEMPORAL VARIATIONS IN SOME MEDICINALLY IMPORTANT BIOCHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS OF PEGANUM HARMALA (HERMAL)

IFTIKHAR AHMAD^1*, MUMTAZ HUSSAIN², M. SAJID AQEEL AHMAD², MANSOOR HAMEED², M. YASIN ASHRAF³, ZABTA KHAN SHINWARI⁴, TAHIRA NAWAZ², RIFFAT BATOOL² AND SANA FATIMA²

Abstract: Peganum harmala is an annual herb commonly found in the Salt Range during spring and summer seasons. Spatiotemporal variations in accumulation of some medicinally important biochemical constituents in different parts of P. harmala during different seasons and at different sites of Soone Valley in the Salt Range were investigated. Dry matter and phosphorus contents were strongly correlated with autumn, whereas minerals, fats, flavonoids and K contents were the maximum in winter and fibers in summer. All other parameters as phenols, alkaloids, proteins, moisture and most of the minerals as Ca, N, K, Cu, Mg, Zn, Na, NFES (nitrogen free extractable substances), and NFE (net free energy) were associated with spring. Spatial variation showed that moisture, dry matter, NFES, NFE, N and proteins were centroid as their accumulation was not affected due to variation in the study sites, however, alkaloids, K, and Fe were associated with Dape Sharif site having water springs and water channels passing through the valley and soil with higher electrical conductivity, Fibers, Mg and fats were associated with Jallar and Khoora sites (cultivated areas with high amount of salts). Phenols, Zn and flavonoids were associated with high pH soil of Anga site. In seeds, maximum organic and inorganic constituents were found at nutrient rich Khabeki site. Fats and NFES were found maximum in seeds of the plants growing at Anga site, and phenols, flavonoids, NFE and K were higher in seeds of Khoora site. Spring was found to be the most suitable harvesting season for maximum quantity of nutritional as well as medicinal components in P. harmala. Among sites, high pH soils of Anga and higher nutrient containing soils of Khabeki are good for maximum quantity of phenols, flavonoids, alkaloids, mineral and nutritional components.

¹Department of Biological Sciences, University of Sargodha, Sargodha, Pakistan

²Department of Botany, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan

³Nuclear Institute for Agriculture and Biology (NIAB), Faisalabad, Pakistan

⁴Department of Biotechnology & Bioinformatics, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad

^*Corresponding author’s e-mail: iak8767@yahoo.com