Herbal Supplements Lead to Better Test Results in Photosynthesis and Regeneration in Fatshedera lizei

By: Brad Damm

Jamie Geist

Devin Murphy

Eric Spence

Abstract

Written by Brad Damm: Revised by Devin Murphy

Herbal supplements, such as Echinacea purpurea and Eleutherococcus senticosus, are used in many ways by people all over the world. We will test these drugs on Fatshedera lizei, commonly known as Ivy Tree. Based on experiments by Sperber et al. (2004) and Sauve et al. (2003), Echinacea helps the body fight infections and may help plants regenerate faster. Eleuthero is a common energy supplement. We predicted by applying these two supplements the photosynthesis would improve. Our null hypothesis remains; the two drugs may have no affect on the Ivy Trees. To challenge our hypothesis we performed numerous tests. The Benedict, Selivanoff, Barfoed, and Iodine Tests produced negative results. We used these because we thought there would be different sugar groups within the treated plants. Bial’s Test indicated there were pentose furanose rings. We performed the Action and Absorption Spectrum tests. For both tests, we predicted the treated plants would have higher absorbance readings due to more photosynthesis. This is based on treating the plants with herbal supplements, which add more photosynthetic organelles to the plants, causing for more photosynthesis, as well as previous experiments done on Spirulina. For the Absorbance Spectrum, Echinacea had the highest absorbance readings, followed by the control, and lastly the Eleuthero. In the Action Spectrum, we found the control and Echinacea treated plants to have their highest absorbance readings under white light, whereas the Eleuthero had its highest reading under red light. Overall we found the herbal supplement Echinacea had the most improved photosynthesis and regeneration.

Discussion

Written by Eric Spence: Revised by the group

In our experiment we compared the effects of the herbal supplements, Echinacea and Eleuthero, on the macromolecules and the photosynthesis of the Ivy Tree plants. Our hypothesis is that there will be a difference in the photosynthesis in the Ivy Trees for the two herbs. However, when using herbal supplements that are originally produced from plants, it would be improbably that the macromolecules found for the plants would be substantially different. We believe that there when testing the regeneration rate for the plants, the herbal supplements will have an effect on the overall regeneration for the Ivy Trees. This is due to the fact that the herbal supplements will add extra nutrients that may benefit the plants. Another reason for this prediction is that Echinacea was shown to increase the regeneration rate of the Tennessee coneflower (Sauve 2003).

Our experiment compared the effects of Echinacea and Eleuthero, herbal supplements, on Ivy Trees. We hypothesized that there will be a difference in the regeneration rate of the treated ivy trees. We predict that the ivy tree treated with the Echinacea solution will have the fastest regeneration rate, followed by the plant treated with the Eleuthero solution followed by the control plant. A second hypothesis is that there would be a change in the photosynthesis of the plants treated with the herbal supplements. We preformed tests that tested for specific sugars as well as a few to test for changes in photosynthesis. Finally we used the statistical test, the T-test on regeneration of a stem clipped above the bud, to compare overall regeneration rate of each of the plants.

The first test preformed was the Benedict’s test. With this test we determined the lack of a free aldehyde or ketone group for the plants treated with the supplements as well as the control plant. The fact that the plants all had the same results was expected because the plants are all the same species and the samples were all taken from the same area of the plant, the leaves. This also ties into the results we obtained from the Barfoed’s test in which we detected the absence of monosaccharides. This detection is also related to the presence of monosaccharides such as glucose in the photosynthesis process. The Selivanoff’s test proved that for all of the treatments there was the absence of monosaccharide ketoses. The ketoses were known not to be in each solution due to the fact that it took several minutes for a noticeable reaction to occur in the solution that turned it a reddish color. Bial’s Test was another test preformed. This test was used to distinguish between and determine the presence of hexose-furanose and pentose-furanose rings. Through this test we found that all the plants reacted with the acid and proved to contain furanose rings. The final test we preformed to look at the sugars contained in the plants was the iodine test. With this test we looked for the presence of coiled polysaccharides, starches. None of the treatments reacted with the IKI and turned a bluish-black confirming that the plants did not have starches in the leaves. On our second run of the tests we boiled the mixture in order to get clearer results but the second run tests provided the same data as the first run.

Two photosynthesis tests were preformed to help determine if there was an effect on the plants photosynthesis due to the addition of the herbal supplements. The first photosynthesis test preformed was the absorption spectrum. With this test we found that Echinacea had the fastest photosynthesis rate out of the three plants. The second test of photosynthesis was the action spectrum test. With this test we found that we found that Echinacea had the highest absorption readings across all wavelengths of light. The statistical tests also showed a much higher rate of regeneration with the plant treated with Echinacea than with either of the other two plants which did not show a significant difference.

With all of the found data as stated above we were able to determine if our hypotheses were correct. From Bial’s test there was a presence of more sugars, in ring form, in the supplement treated plants than were in the control plants. With the photosynthesis tests the plants treated with the herbal supplements gave results that supported our alternative hypothesis that the supplements would increase the photosynthesis of the plants watered with the Echinacea and Eleuthero solutions. The increase in photosynthesis would increase the amounts of chlorophyll in the plants as well as the sugars in each plant. These were shown in our results from the tests preformed.

The results of the statistical test are conclusive proof that of the herbal supplements tested only Echinacea has a positive effect on the regeneration of plants while other herbal supplements had no real effect on the plant’s regeneration rate.

Throughout our project we came upon some weaknesses that if the project were to be preformed again we would have done differently. We would have liked to have preformed more tests that would have related more specifically and looked more closely at the actual make up of each of the plants to help determine more in depth what effect the supplements really had on the plants such as looking directly at the differences in the cell components instead of relying on more indirect tests.

Figure 8: A graph showing the growth for the regeneration of the Ivy Trees, Fatshedera lizei, reached when measured with a ruler against the time in days between each recording. The measurements were taken from the end of the node that was left after the initial cut, to the end of the newly regenerated part of the plant. The growth is measured in millimeters.