Journal of Biotechnology and Biosafety

Volume 2, Issue 2, March-April 2014, 61-67

ISSN 2322-0406

Journal of Biotechnology and Biosafety

Research article
MORINGA OLEIFERA (PKM-1) FERMENTED LEAF JUICE- PART OF ORGANIC
INTEGRATED NUTRITIONAL MANAGEMENT IN ORGANIC CULTIVATION OF
BRASSICA OLERACEA (L.)
_________________________________________________

R. Rajamani1*, Rudresh Kumar Singh2,

Lakshmi B3
_________________________________________________
1

Co-principal investigator, Sri Sri Institute of

Advanced Research (A Research Division of Ved
Vignan Maha Vidya Peeth- VVMVP) 21st Km,
Kanakapura Road, Udayapura, Bangalore- 560082
2

Research scholar, Sri Sri Institute of

Advanced Research (A Research Division of
Ved Vignan Maha Vidya Peeth- VVMVP)
21st Km, Kanakapura Road , Udayapura,
Bangalore- 560082
3

Research associate, Sri Sri Institute of Advanced

Research (A Research Division of Ved Vignan
Maha Vidya Peeth- VVMVP) 21st Km, Kanakapura
Road, Udayapura, Bangalore- 560082

ABSTRACT
The plant growth promotion activity of fermented leaf juice of
Moringa oleifera (PKM-1) was determined by in-vitro pot
culture method. Brassica oleracea (L.) (Knol-khol) plant
treated with consortium and Jeevamrit were supplemented
with Drumstick fermented leaf juice showed significant
growth promotion than un-supplemented plant. Three
experimental plants were used; plant treated with 15 ml, 30
ml and 45 ml/plant during vegetative growth period (thirty
five days). The biomass parameters such as fresh-shoot
weight (73.31 gm), fresh-root weight (24.4 gm), root-length
(27.1 cm), dry-shoot weight (1.3 gm), dry-root weight (0.8
gm), total fresh- weight (97.71 gm ) and total dry weight (2.1
gm) were higher in D-3 (45 ml/plant) than control ( unsupplemented). The study revealed that the root application of
combination of Jeevamrit, consortium and DFLJ on Knolkhol plant was observed suitable for plant growth promotion.
In this paper effective utilization of Drumstick leaf on Knolkhol plant has been described.

*Corresponding author email:

raj19112002@gmail.com

Keywords: Moringa oleifera, Jeevamrit solution, Drumstick fermented leaf juice (DFLJ), Brassica oleracea, Micronutrient, green
manure, organic cultivation, knol-khol.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Journal of Biotechnology and Biosafety

Volume 2, Issue 2, March-April 2014, 61-67
ISSN 2322-0406

Journal of Biotechnology and Biosafety

INTRODUCTION
Moringa is a tropical tree with multiple uses and which is
resistant to drought. Among the 13 species known,
Moringa oleifera is particularly easy to reproduce and its
growth is very fast. The numerous economic uses of
Moringa oleifera with its easy propagation have raised
growing international interest. This tree which originated
from India, found in most tropical countries- Africa, Asia,
America and Madagascar have been less exploited so far.
Though India stands second in vegetables and fruit
production hardly two percent of the produce is processed
and 30-40% is wasted due to lack of processing and
preservation infrastructure (Adeyeye 2002).
The Moringa leaves possess remarkable nutritional and
medicinal qualities. The leaves contain high amount of
Vitamin C, Calcium, Potassium, Proteins and rich essential
amino acids such as Arginine and Histidine (Singh, S et
al., 2012, Mishra, S P 2011, Duke, J A 1987, Manzoor,
M, 2007, Mahatab, S N 1987).
Indias ancient tradition of Ayurveda says the leaves of
Moringa tree prevent 300 diseases. Scientific research has
proven that these humble leaves are in fact a power house
to nutritional value. The micronutrient content is even
more in dried leaves; 10 times the vitamin A of carrots, 17
times the calcium of milk, 15 times the potassium of
bananas, 25 times the iron of spinach and 9 times the
protein of yogurt (Moringa News- web news). Moringa
can be grown intensively which yields up to 650 metric
tons of green matter per hectare. This compares very well
to other green manure crop such as Lab-lab beans which
yields up to 110 metric tons per hectare. The researchers at
Proyecto BIOMASA Agricultural research program
located in Nicaragua have studied for over six years that
Moringa fresh leaf juice and fresh leaves can be used for
sound agricultural practice like foliar spray to increase
plant growth and as a green manure to improve soil
fertility. The juice from fresh Moringa leaves can be used
to produce an effective plant growth hormone (Zeatincytokinin group) and increase yield by 25-30% for nearly
all crops like onion, bell paper, soya, maize, sorghum,
coffee, tea and chilli (Martin L. Price, 2007).
Hence the present study was undertaken specially to
investigate the role of drumstick fermented leaf juice as an
organic nutritional source and growth promoting agent on
Brassica oleracea.

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MATERIALS & METHODS

The leaf of Moringa oleifera PKM-1 was collected from
two years old tree at Sri Sri Ayurveda Panchkarma
Division (SSAPD) organic garden, Art of Living
International Centre, Bangalore, to prepare drumstick
fermented leaf juice.
Preparation of Drumstick Fermented Leaf Juice
Three kg of fresh leaves of Moringa oleifera PKM-1
variety were weighed out and immersed into three litre of
tap water containing three grams of salt & three grams of
tamarind (Table-1) (Vijayan Pillai, 2012). The whole
mixture was kept in 30 litres capacity plastic container and
left for fifteen days for aerobic fermentation. After fifteen
days, the juice from fermented leaf was filtered off and
stored in a clean conical flask for experimental use.
Preparation of Nursery Bed for Knol-khol Plant
For
this
study,
Brassica
oleracea
(KNOLKHOL,``INDAM EARLY WHITE) seeds were obtained
from Indo-American hybrid Seeds(India) Pvt.Ltd. Fifty
seeds were surface sterilized with 5% sodium hypo
chloride for 5 minutes and rinsed thoroughly in sterile
distilled water for three times. Seeds were sown on a
nursery bed containing 1:1:1 ratio of coco peat, red soil
and cow dung. After fifteen days the seedlings were
transplanted into pot soil mixture.
Preparation of Pot Soil Mixture
To evaluate the DFLJ effect, a specially designed pot soil
mixture was prepared. Two parts of coco peat, one part of
red soil and one part of cow dung (2:1:1) were mixed
thoroughly and 1 kg of pot soil mixture was filled in each
pot.
Experimental Design
The fifteen days old seedlings of Knol-Khol were
transplanted to the pot containing soil mixture along with
different quantity of DFLJ (Table-1). Each treatment had
ten plants. The first set of 10 pots of Knol-Khol plants
were treated with 5mL of DFLJ /plant, second set
10mL/plant and third set 15mL/plant of DFLJ at the time
of transplantation. The fourth set of 10 pots were not
treated with drumstick fermented leaf juice and treated as
control. The same treatment was repeated again on 15th
day and 30th day of Knol-khol plant along with 2.5 mL
Jeevamrit solution (Table-2) and 750 mg of bacterial and
fungal consortium (Product obtained from Indian Institute
of Horticulture Research Soil Science, Bangalore).The
control was only treated with Jeevamrit solution and
consortium. The water requirement of pot culture plants
were managed as and when during the experiments.

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Journal of Biotechnology and Biosafety

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ISSN 2322-0406

Journal of Biotechnology and Biosafety

Table-1: Composition of Drumstick Fermented Leaf Juice (DFLJ).

Sl. No
Composition
1
3 kg of fresh drumstick leaf
2
3 grams of tamarind
3
3 grams of sea salt
4
3 Liters of tap water
Table-2: Composition of Jeevamrit solution
S. No
1
2
3
4
5

Composition
10 kg of fresh cow dung
10 liters of cow urine
2 kg of Jaggery
2 kg of Red gram flour powder
200 grams of pot soil mixture

Analysis of Biomass
For biomass analysis, thirty five days old vegetative stage
of Knol-Khol plants was taken out from pot carefully and
washed with tap water to remove the soil. For fresh and
dry biomass analysis, the shoot and root were separated
and placed in a paper envelop after weighing the fresh
individual plants. The shoot and root were placed in oven
at 57oC for three days to remove complete inbound
moisture (Gamalero, 2004). The dry weight of shoot and
root of individual plants were recorded. The other
parameters such as root length and number of leaves were
also recorded to study the effect of DFLJ.

RESULTS
According to data, the vegetative biomass of knol-khol
(Table 3) increased significantly due to different
concentration of DFLJ. The highest total fresh weight
97.71 gm. was obtained from the plant treated with 45mL
of DFLJ (D3), which was significantly higher over all
other treatments. The second highest biomass yield 11.63
gm was obtained from the plant treated with 30mL of
DFLJ (D2). The biomass of individual plants shoot-fresh
and dry-weight, root-length, root-fresh and dry- weight
showed more than control (Table 4). The number of leaves
per plant did not show any significant variation.

Table-3: Effect of different dose of D F L J on Knol-khol Shoot Biomass

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Journal of Biotechnology and Biosafety

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ISSN 2322-0406

Journal of Biotechnology and Biosafety

Figure-1: Effect of DFLJ on shoot biomass of Knol-khol

Table-4: Effect of different dose of D F L J on Knol-khol Root Biomass

Figure-2: Effect of DFLJ on root and total biomass of Knol-khol

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Journal of Biotechnology and Biosafety

Volume 2, Issue 2, March-April 2014, 61-67
ISSN 2322-0406

Journal of Biotechnology and Biosafety

Figure-3: Effect of Drumstick Fermented Leaf Juice (DFLJ) on Biomass of Knol-khol plant.
A- Control, B- 15 ml/ plant, C- 30 ml/ plant, D-45 ml/ plant.

DISCUSSION
Based on the result, it was showed a synergistic effect
between apply of Jeevamrit, consortium and DFLJ on
biomass content. Many studies showed that application of
microbial consortium significantly increased biomass of
the plant due to vigorous uptake of minerals from the soil.
Increased individual plant biomass in treatment (D-3)
might be due to the higher dose of available nutrients of
DFLJ. Increased nutrient uptake by plants treated with
combination of all three such as Jeevamrit, consortium and
DFLJ has been attributed to enhancement of increased root
volume and surface area. The composition of DFLJ was

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developed and applied on tomato, papaya at AL.Khaly

Farm in UAE to withstand high temperature, a better yield
was observed.(Vijayan Pillai, 2012, www.nonitrees.com)
Combined inoculation of multiple traits of Azospirilum,
Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Enterobacter and Azotobacter
have also been reported in various crops like tomato,
potato, rice, sugar beet and barley (Gamalero, E. et al.,
2004, Kundu, B.S. and A.C. Gaur, 1980, Tiwari, V.N et
al 1989). The presence of freely available minerals, amino
acids in DFLJ might be mobilized at high rate to the plants
root with microbial activity. Further research need to be
done on mechanism by which DFLJ increased biomass of
Knol-khol and other crops in order to find whether other
mechanisms are also involved.

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Journal of Biotechnology and Biosafety

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CONCLUSION
The present study recommends the prospects of more
aggressive introduction and utilization of drumstick
fermented leaf juice (DFLJ) by the Agriculture sector. It
also implies that it may be worthwhile for small margin
farmers to take up the production of drumstick fermented
leaf juice for healthy cultivation and incorporated into the
Organic Integrated Nutritional Management (OINM)
programme in India and other countries. This could go a
long way towards not only alleviating plant macro and
micro-nutrient deficiencies but also towards the enrichment
of soil for several crops. By introducing DFLJ as an organic
nutritional source for different crops, surely it sustains the
agriculture in future because of proper and regular use of
DFLJ by the farmers may stop the use of inorganic fertilizer
and reduce the input cost. It is concluded from the present
study that the fifteen days old DFLJ, consortium and
Jeevamrit mixture showed better activity by enhancing the
growth of knol-khol plant. These mixtures can be used as a
organic nutritive solution for growth promotion of all crops
in the future.

Technol. For. / Environ & Natural Resources Forestation

Tech. Ser. 27. USAID, Washington, D.C.

Acknowledgement
We are grateful to Mr. Prasanth S Nair, Director, VVMVP
Trust, Art of Living International Center, Bangalore, India.
We also thank Vinoda Kochupillai, Chairperson, SSIAR
and Mr. Ghanshyam Srivastava, HOD, SSIAR for providing
facilities and showing keen interest for completion of the
work.

Martin L. Price (2007)The Moringa Tree- ECHO Technical

Note 17391, Dwrance Road, North Fort Myers, FL, 33917,
USA. Revised 2007

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Journal of Biotechnology and Biosafety

Volume 2, Issue 2, March-April 2014, 61-67
ISSN 2322-0406

Journal of Biotechnology and Biosafety

Citation of this article: R. Rajamani,Rudresh Kumar Singh, Lakshmi(2014) B.MORINGA

OLEIFERA (PKM-1) FERMENTED LEAF JUICE- PART OF ORGANIC INTEGRATED
NUTRITIONAL MANAGEMENT IN ORGANIC CULTIVATION OF BRASSICA OLERACEA
(L.)
JOBB.2(2):61-67.

Source of Support: Nil

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Conflict of Interest: None Declare

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