Effect of Seed Priming on Growth of Andrographis paniculata and Production of Andrographolide Compound

Andrographis paniculata (Burm. f.) Nees is one of the high-demand medicinal plants and can mostly be found in Asian countries. The plant consists of a few active compounds, mainly andrographolide. This compound has various medicinal properties, including anti-cancer, anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, and anti-malaria. It has been used to treat fever, diabetes, and influenza. The latest research identified an anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity that can be used to treat Covid-19. However, this plant has a low germination rate, which affects its production yield. Thus, seed priming improved germination rate, seedling and plant growth. Osmopriming with polyethylene glycol (PEG) at -0.4 MPa, hormopriming with gibberellic acid at 100 ppm, and control were used in this study and evaluated their effect on plant growth and production of andrographolide compound. PEG treatment significantly produced the highest plant height, number of leaves and branches, leaf area, stem girth, fresh weight of shoot and root, and dry weight of shoot and root compared to the control. This study revealed that seed priming, especially osmopriming, has a high potential to enhance plant growth.