Effect of foliar application of brassinolide and salicylic acid on NPK content in leaf and nutritive values of seed in green gram (Vigna radiata L. Wilczek)

A field experiment was conducted to study the effect of brassinolide (0.10, 0.25 and 0.50 ppm) and salicylic acid (500, 1000 and 1500 ppm) on NPK content in leaf and nutritive values of seed in green gram (Vigna radiata L. Wilczek) cv. PDM 54. Altogether, 8 treatments were given as foliar spray including two types of control - namely water spray and no spray. Foliar application of these plant growth regulators once at pre-flowering (30 DAS) and second time at flowering stage (40 DAS) significantly increased NPK content in the leaves of green gram up to 50 DAS followed by gradual decline till harvest of the crop. Nutritive values of seed particularly, sugar, starch, protein, methionine and ascorbic acid content were found to be influenced by application of these bio-regulators. Brassinolide (BR) at 0.25 ppm and salicylic acid (SA) at 1000 ppm were most effective indicating optimum doses respectively and BR was found to be superior than SA for influencing these metabolite contents.