Vegetative Growth Parameters in Biofield Treated Bottle Gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) & Okra

What is it about?

The objective of the study was to assess the growth contributing characters of biofield treated bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) and okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) seeds. The seeds of both crops were divided into two groups, one was kept aside and denoted as untreated, while the other group was subjected biofield energy treatment. The variabilities in growth contributing parameters were studied and compared with their control. Further the level of glutathione (GSH) in okra leaves, along with DNA fingerprinting in bottle gourd were analyzed using RAPD method. After germination, the plants of bottle gourd were reported to be strong and erect with better canopy as compared with the control. The vegetative growth of okra plants after biofield energy treatment was found to be stout with small canopy, strong steam, and more fruits per nodes, that contributed high yield as compared with the control. However, endogenous level of GSH in the leaves of okra was increased by 47.65% as compared to the untreated group, which may suggest an improved immunity of okra crops. Besides, the DNA fingerprinting data, showed polymorphism (42%) between treated and untreated samples of bottle gourd. The overall results suggest that the biofield energy treatment on bottle gourd and okra seeds, results an improved overall growth of plant and yield, which may enhance flowering and fruiting per plant. Study results conclude that the biofield energy treatment could be an alternate method to improve the crop yield in agricultural science.

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Why is it important?

Some traditional medicines are derived from the vegetative plants, minerals and organic matter [1]. The calabash or bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) is commonly known as long melon, lauki, ghia or dudhi in India. It is one of the first vegetative domesticated crop for human use. It can be used for many purposes such as food, medicine, etc. A total of six varieties of Lagenaria species are known, out of which L. siceraria is domesticated, while the rest are perennial, wild congeners, and dioecious in nature [2]. Bottle gourd is supposed to be originated from Africa and America [3], while it occurs in wild form in India and South Africa. However, most of the variability in terms of shape, size, and fruits are found in India [4]. It is considered as a part of complementary and alternative therapy against many diseases (i.e., in case of high blood pressure, heart disease, liver function, nerve tonic, indigestion, ulcers, etc.) [5]. Abelmoschus esculentus is commonly known as okra or lady’s finger, is an important vegetative crop throughout the tropics and subtropics region in warm temperate zones of the World. However, it is considered to be native to tropical Africa [6]. It is well distributed and cultivated in Indian subcontinent and are harvested as immature fruits and eaten as a vegetable. The content of oil in seeds is about 15%, and it is an important source of protein, minerals, vitamins and roughage [7]. However, its fresh tender pods were used to cure leucorrhea, constipation, spermatorrhea, jaundice, and diabetes. Its mucilage component is also used to treat different gastrointestinal disorders [8]. Although, the plants of okra are correlated with its benefits in few diseases, but most of the problems are associated with seed and soil borne pathogens, which finally results in a low final yield of the crops [9, 10], and different advanced methods have been adopted for the seeds to increase the yield [11]. Some alternate methods are required to improve the yield of vegetative crops, which could restrict the crop infections and lead to improve the yield. Biofield energy treatment is one of the alternative approaches recently reported to alter the agricultural crops crop yield [12, 13]. Biofield therapy (the electromagnetic field) is one type of energy medicine, which comes under the category of complementary and alternate medicine (CAM). Use of energy medicine is prescribed and included under CAM category by National Institutes of Health/National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NIH/NCCIM) [14]. It involves the use of human biofield, which will regulate and concentrate the bioenergy and transmit it into any living or non-living object. Thus, the human has the ability to harness the energy from the environment and can transmit it into useful way. Now, a days, biofield therapies has been widely practiced and reported with several benefits in medical science [15-17]. Mr. Mahendra Kumar Trivedi, is one of the well-known biofield therapy practitioner, and possesses a unique biofield energy. His unique biofield energy treatment is popularly known as The Trivedi Effect®. The results of biofield treatment have been reported in the field of agricultural science that improves the yields and growth of vegetative plants [18, 19]. Inspired by the previous results of biofield treatment, and importance of vegetative crops, the present study was designed to evaluate the effect of biofield energy treatment on bottle gourd and okra seeds. Genetic variability parameters of bottle gourd (DNA fingerprinting) using standard molecular method were performed, while level of glutathione (GSH) in okra leaves after biofield treatment was studied.

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