Effects of giberellic acid on biomass production in cana de macaco, Costus spicatus (Jacq.) Sw (Zingiberaceae)

Abstract

In Brazil and in the world the interest for the study of matters vegetable is growing up, even so, the adapted handling of the medicinal species has not been satisfactory due to the standardization lack during the cultivation, crop, storage or even in the prepare of medicines from plants. Costus spicatus (Jacq.) Sw, popularly called “cana-de-macaco”, is a plant of the Zingiberaceae family, native in Brazil, mainly in the Atlantic Forest and Amazon areas. The gibberellin is a vegetal growth regulator that induces the elongation of the branches, stimulating even the division as the cellular elongation. The aim of this work was to analyze the biomass production in Costus spicatus plants moistened with gibberellin solutions with different concentrations by the dry weight mensurations. Sixteen stakes of the C. spicatus stems, without leaves and sprouts, retreats of the medium part of adult main plants were used. The stakes were divided in 4 treatments: plants moistened with water (Treatment 1); plants moistened with 5mL of solution of GA3 0,05 g.L-1 (concentration molar of 1,44352 x 10-7) (Treatment 2); plants moistened with 5mL of solution of GA3 0,10 g.L-1 (concentration molar of 2,887 x 10-7) (Treatment 3); and plants moistened with 5mL of solution of GA3 0,15 g.L-1 (concentration molar of 4,33057 x 10-7) (Treatment 4). After 90 days under those treatments was verified that the gibberellic acid did not influence the biomass production.