Effects Of Cashew Leaves And Stem-Bark Extracts On The Germination Of Cowpea (Vigna Unguiculata L. Walp) And . - Pigeon Pea (Cajanus Cajan L. Millsp) Seeds:- Ukaegbu, florence. O

ABSTRACT

The experiment was conducted to observe the inhibitory effects of the leaves and stem-bark extract derived from Anacardium occidentale (Cashew) from the National Root Crops Research Institute Umuahia, Umudike in Abia State on the germination of Vigna unguiculata (Cowpea) and pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan). The experiments were set on sterilized Petri dishes with a photoperiod of 24hours. Different concentrations of the aqueous extracts (i.e.30%, 50% and 70%) were prepared and administered to the seeds while distilled water was used as the control of the experiment. The aqueous extracts of both the leaves and stem-bark caused inhibitory effects on the germination percentages of cowpea and pigeon pea and increased with the increase in the concentration of the extracts. The stem-bark extracts of T, (70%) had the highest inhibition percentage value of (36.67%) for cowpea and (86.66%) for pigeon pea and the lowest inhibition percentage value was recorded in control and T, which had the inhibition of (60.00%) for control and (53.33%) for T,, while in the leaf extract the highest inhibition percentage was recorded in T, for both seeds which had (16.66%) for cowpea and (80.00%) for pigeon pea, while the lowest inhibition was in control, followed by TI in the leaf extract. These findings showed that certain phytochemicals in the tissues of A. occideccntale caused significant phytotoxic effects on the germination of cowpea and pigeon pea seeds. The study also revealed that inhibition of the leaf aqueous extract effect was more pronounced on the germination of both seeds (Cowpea and Pigeon pea) .