Influence of Mulching Materials on Growth and Saponin Content in Codonopsis lanceolate

Abstract

This research was carried out to investigate the lancemasides content and the growth characteristics of Codonopsis lanceolata cultivated using biodegradable film, non-woven fabric, and rice husks as various mulching materials. Non-treatment soil and hand weeding were used as controls. The results show that phosphoric acid and total N were higher in the non-woven fabric and biodegradable film treatments. In addition, plants growing in the biodegradable film and non-woven fabric treatment showed excellent growth. The content of lancemaside A had no significant difference among the applied mulching material treatments. However, its content increased in the biodegradable film and non-woven fabric. The contents of lancemaside B and D had no significant difference among treatments, but at very low levels compared to lancemaside A. Furthermore, the non-woven fabric and biodegradable film treatments effectively inhibited weed growth. Therefore, the non-woven fabric and biodegradable film treatment in C. lanceolata increased the content of lancemasides and improved C. lanceolata growth while inhibiting weed growth.