Cumulative role of irradiated sodium alginate and nitrogen fertilizer on growth, biochemical processes and artemisinin production in Artemisia annua

Being the world's most severe parasitic infection, malaria causes more than a million deaths annually. Artemisinin and its derivatives are effective against malaria without any reputed cases of resistance. The drug artemisinin can be extracted from the leafy tissues of Artemisia annua L. Application of ionizing radiation to degrade natural bioactive agents, such as sodium alginate and then using them as growth promoting substances is a novel emerging technology to exploit full genetic potential of crops in terms of growth, yield, and quality. In the present study, sodium alginate, irradiated by Co-60 gamma rays together with various nitrogen doses, was used to study their effect on growth attributes, physiological and biochemical processes and production of artemisinin in A. annua. Of the various applied doses of nitrogen, N-80 (80 kg N ha(-1)) together with ISA(80) (80 mg L-1) proved superior in positively regulating almost all the parameters studied. Most importantly, an increase of 38.1 and 80.5% in artemisinin content and yield respectively, was noticed at this treatment. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.