Effects of microbial organic fertilizer on glycoalkaloid content and yield of Solanum procumbens Lour.

Solanum procumbens Lour. is a traditional medicinal plant known for its rich glycoalkaloid content. This research aimed to determine the suitable types and application rates of microbial organic fertilizers to enhance yield and glycoalkaloid content in Solanum procumbens Lour. A two-factor experiment was conducted using a Split-Plot Design (SPD) with three replications. The main plots included four types of microbial organic fertilizers (HD301, HD302, Komix-BL2, and HCMK7), while the sub-plots involved three application rates (2, 4, and 6 tonnes/ha per crop). Various parameters were measured, including fresh and dry biomass per plant, fresh and dry yield per ha, glycoalkaloid content, and glycoalkaloid yield across two cropping cycles. The results indicated that applying HCMK7 at a rate of 6 tonnes/ha per crop produced the highest outcomes: in the initial crop, a fresh weight of 255.2 g and dry weight of 111.1 g per plant, fresh yield of 15.77 tonnes/ha, dry yield of 6.99 tonnes/ha, glycoalkaloid content of 0.70%, and glycoalkaloid yield of 48.97 kg/ha. In the ratoon crop, the same application rate yielded a fresh weight of 282.5 g and dry weight of 134.6 g/plant, fresh yield of 17.62 tonnes/ha, dry yield of 9.21 tonnes/ha, glycoalkaloid content of 0.76%, and glycoalkaloid yield of 70.39 kg/ha. The highest average glycoalkaloid content (0.73%) and total glycoalkaloid yield (119.36 kg/ha) across both crops were also recorded at this application rate.