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Pak. J. Bot., 45(6): 1889-1896, 2013.

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EFFECT OF INTERCROPPED GARLIC (ALLIUM  SATIVUM) ON CHLOROPHYL CONTENTS, PHOTOSYNTHESIS AND ANTIOXIDANT ENZYMES IN PEPPER

IMRAN AHMAD¹, ZHIHUI CHENG^1*, HUANWEN MENG¹, TONGJIN LIU¹, WU CUI NAN¹, MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN², HUMAIRA WASILA³AND ABDUL REHMAN KHAN¹

Abstract: The effects of intercropped garlic (Allium sativum) on chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll content, leaf photosynthetic rate and antioxidant enzymes were investigated in pepper during two years study from 2011 to 2012. Physico-chemical analysis of pepper intercropped with normal garlic (sowing clove of cv. G026 for harvesting of scape and bulb) and green garlic (sowing bulb of cv. G064 for harvesting of green garlic) were compared to mono-culture cultivation of pepper. Results showed that chlorophyll a, total chlorophyll content, net photosynthetic rate and catalase activity (CAT) were significantly enhanced at p<0.05 in the pepper intercropped with normal garlic, while chlorophyll b and peroxidase (POD) were significantly enhanced at p<0.05 in the pepper intercropped with green garlic.Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) was inhibited by intercropping and high level of (PPO) activity observed in control. It can be concluded from this study that intercropping pepper with normal garlic increased chlorophyll content, photosynthetic rate and antioxidant enzymes activity as compared to other treatments.

¹College of Horticulture, Northwest A & F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, 712100, P R. China.

²College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, P.R. China.

³College of Food science and Engineering Northwest A & F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, 712100, P.R. China

^*Corresponding author email address: chengzh@nwsuaf.edu.cn