Abstract

Cineraria maritima is an annual exotic medicinal herb. Aerial parts of the plants are commercially utilized for the preparation of homeopathic eye drops. Therefore the whole biomass of the aerial part is in much demand, commercially. The raw materials are of limited availability, and the indigenous requirement is met mostly, by import of the prepared drug formulation at higher cost. Concerted efforts are being made for the cultivation of this exotic medicinal plant. The effect of low to high supplies of micronutrients-Fe, Mn, B, and Zn on shoot biomass production, have been studied in C. maritima grown in sand culture. Higher doses of boron (at 1.0 mg/l) and zinc (at 0.1 mg/l) are observed to be beneficial for shoot biomass production, as compared to Iron (at 11.2 mg/l) and Manganese (at 1 mg/l). Low supplies of iron, manganese, zinc, and boron, however, uniformly decrease biomass production. This study shows that higher supplies of B and Zn are beneficial for higher biomass production in C. maritima.