Effects of Bioinsecticides Made from Some Plant Leaves and Pepper Seeds on the Growth of Spinach

Abstract

A laboratory-based experiment was conducted at the Federal University of Technology Owerri, Nigeria to determine the effect of bioinsecticides using curry leaves, scent leaves, pepper seeds and neem leaves on the growth of spinach. The experiment was laid out in a Completely Randomized Design and replicated four times. Data collected were germination percentage, plant height (cm), number of leaves, girth size, number of pests, number of punctures on leaves, number of flowers, and number of seeds produced. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze the results while the least significant difference was used to separate the means. Results showed the proximate composition of the botanicals and phytochemical contents such as Alkaloids, Tannins, Flavonoids, Saponins, Terpenoids, and Cardiac glycosides. Germination and growth parameters of spinach were influenced by different treatment combinations with treatment T8CLE + SLE (82%) recording the highest germination percentage. There was a significant difference (p<0.05) between the values of the growth parameter and the control. This could be due to the high active ingredient found in the botanicals. The study recommends curry leaves, scent leaves, pepper seeds and neem leaves as alternatives to conventional synthetic insecticides.