Testing if Liquid Ashwagandha Supplement Will Increase the Rate of Growth for Cilantro

Investigating the Allelopathic Effects of Liquid Ashwagandha Supplement on Cilantro Growth

Abstract

Ashwagandha is a plant supplement trending in recent years because of its immense health benefits for humans. Ashwagandha has many allelopathic properties that impact the growth of its surrounding plants and environment. This experiment tested ashwagandha’s allelopathic properties by adding ashwagandha extract to cilantro seeds upon planting to observe ashwagandha’s effect on plant height. The goal was to determine if a liquid ashwagandha supplement impacted the rate of growth of cilantro. There were eight groups, totaling 320 samples of cilantro. Group one was the control group, while the other seven groups received treatments of fertilizer and ashwagandha in various combinations and amounts. Plants were grown under growth lights for four weeks. All groups received the same amount of water and had their height recorded weekly for (n = 40) per group. The two-way ANOVA test resulted in p-values of 0.0001 for 0.25 mL, 0.50 mL, and 1.00 mL of ashwagandha; fertilizer; and 0.25 mL, 0.50 mL, and 1.00 mL of ashwagandha and fertilizer together. These significant results indicated that the various treatments reduced the plant growth rate. Cilantro plants that received 0.25 mL ashwagandha treatment had a mean height in cm (1.7 +/- 0.59) that was significantly lower (p = < .0001) than the control plants (5.27 +/- 0.78). The mean height of the control plants (5.27 +/- 0.78) was significantly higher (p =<.0001) than the mean height of the plants that received fertilizer and 0.25 mL of ashwagandha (0.47 +/- 0.27). Many samples that received ashwagandha supplements did not make it past germination, which aligned with previous studies. These results can be generalized to other plants due to past studies having similar results. Additional experiments could focus on the effects of fertilizer on cilantro because of the unexpected reduction of germination and growth in some groups treated with fertilizer.