Arbuscular mycorrhizal consortium alleviates chromium(VI) stress and enhances seed phytochemicals in Psoralea corylifolia L.
Chowdhary NA, Songachan LS
Mycorrhizal Networks
It shows that contaminated land written off as unusable could still grow valuable medicinal plants safely and productively, potentially expanding where food and herbal crops can be cultivated as more soil faces industrial pollution.
Researchers exposed Babchi — a plant used in traditional medicine — to toxic levels of chromium in soil, which normally stunts growth and poisons plants. They then added a mix of three naturally occurring root fungi, which act like a support network helping the plant absorb nutrients and fight stress. Remarkably, not only did the plant survive better, but its seeds actually contained higher levels of the medicinal compounds that make it valuable.
Key Findings
AMF fungal consortium inoculation improved plant growth, seed yield, and nutrient uptake (N, P, Mg, Fe, Zn) under chromium stress at both 25 and 50 mg/kg soil concentrations
Seeds from fungi-colonized plants accumulated higher levels of three key medicinal compounds — bakuchiol, psoralen, and isopsoralen — even at the highest chromium exposure level
Multivariate analysis identified mycorrhizal colonization as a reliable single indicator linking nutrient health, oxidative balance, and medicinal compound enrichment across all treatment conditions
chevron_right Technical Summary
A cocktail of beneficial soil fungi helped a medicinal plant survive toxic chromium-contaminated soil while actually producing more of its valuable healing compounds — suggesting a practical, nature-based solution for growing medicinal crops on polluted land.
Abstract Preview
Cultivation of high-value medicinal plants on contaminated land requires reliable biomarkers and sustainable remediation strategies. We evaluated a multispecies arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) c...
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Cullen corylifolium, synonym Psoralea corylifolia, (babchi) is a plant used in Indian and Chinese traditional medicine. The seeds of this plant contain a variety of coumarins, including psoralen.