Abstract
Picralima nitida is an important African medicinal plant species threatened in the Dahomey Gap. It is used in pharmaceutical industries and traditional medicine to treat several diseases. Despite its importance, this the species faces a serious conservation problem. It is rare, especially in the Dahomey Gap countries in contrast to the Guinean zone. The present study aims to contribute to the conservation of P. nitida by assessing the ecophenotypic variation of the fruit, natural seed germination and seedling growth. A total of 1,200 fruits were collected in two phytodistricts of Dahomey Gap to evaluate the morphotypes. The seeds were evaluated for natural germination with different substrates. The results on ecophenotypic variation and natural seed germination revealed no significant difference (p > 0.05) between the fruits from the two phytodistricts. However, three morphotypes of fruits were obtained with significant difference (p < 0.05). Morphotype 1 gathered large, round and heavy fruits, morphotype 2 fruits were elongated oval-shaped, and morphotype 3 fruits were short, round and light. The highest germination rate (73.33%) was obtained with morphotype 1 seeds on the substrate composed of 100% top soil. The fruits from the phytodistrict of Pobè had seeds with the highest rate of germination (55.55%) on the substrate composed of 100% top soil. The use of organic matter in the substrate of germination stimulated the growth of P. nitida seedlings after seed germination.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adomou, A. (2005). Vegetation patterns and environmental gradients in Benin: Implications for biogeography and conservation, PhD Thesis, Wageningen University, The Netherlands. ISBN 90-8504-308-5.
Aguwa, C.N., Ukwe, C.V., Inya-Agha, S.I. and Okonta, J.M. (2001). Antidiabetic effect of Picralima nitida aqueous seed extract in experimental rabbit model. Journal of Natural Remedies 1(2): 135–139. https://doi.org/10.18311/jnr/2001/22.
Akabassi, G. C. (2018). Connaissances et variabilité phénotypique de Picralima nitida au Bénin, MSc Thesis, Université d'Abomey Calavi, Benin.
Akabassi, G. C., Padonou, E. A., Chadare, F. J., & Assogbadjo, A. E. (2017). Importance ethnobotanique et valeur d’usage de Picralima nitida (stapf) au Sud-Bénin (Afrique de l’Ouest). International Journal of Biological and Chemical Sciences, 11(5), 1979–1993. https://doi.org/10.4314/ijbcs.v11i5.4.
Akoègninou, A., Van der Burg, W. J., & Van der Maesen, L. J. G. (2006). Flore analytique du Bénin. Backhuys Publishers.
Assogbadjo, A. E., Kakaï, R. G., Edon, S., Kyndt, T., & Sinsin, B. (2011). Natural variation in fruit characteristics, seed germination and seedling growth of Adansonia digitata L. in Benin. New Forests, 41(1), 113–125. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11056-010-9214-z.
Betti, J. L. (2004). An ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants among the Baka pygmies in the Dja biosphere reserve. African Study Monographs, 25(1), 1–27. https://doi.org/10.14989/68229.
Biloso, A., & Lejoly, J. (2006). Etude de l’exploitation et du marché des produits forestiers non ligneux à Kinshasa. Tropicultura, 24(3), 183–188.
Black, C. A. (Ed.). (1965). Methods of soil analysis. Agronomy Ser. 9 (pp. 562–567). Madison: American Society Agronomic.
Bolker, B. M., & R Development Core Team. (2013). bbmle: Tools for general maximum likelihood estimation. Available at: http://cran.r-project.org/package=bbmle. Accessed 20 Oct 2018.
Chapman, A.D. (2009). Numbers of living species in Australia and the world. Report for the Australian Biological Resources Study.
Church, R. J. (1968). West Africa: A study of the environment and of man’s use of it. https://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search.do?recordID=US201300589467. Accessed 10 Feb 2019.
Gbadamosi, E. A. (2014). Effect of watering regimes and water quantity on the early seedling growth of Picralima nitida (Stapf). Sustainable Agriculture Research, 3(2), 35–43. https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.230521.
Endress, P. K. (1996). Diversity and evolutionary biology of tropical flowers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Erharuyi, O., Falodun, A., & Langer, P. (2014). Medicinal uses, phytochemistry and pharmacology of Picralima nitida (Apocynaceae) in tropical diseases: A review. Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine, 7, 1–8.
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) UNESCO. (1974). Legend, in Soil Map of the World. Rome.
Gandonou, C. B., Houmba, N. R., Ahoton, L. E., Desquilbet, S., Fakambi, K., Datinon, B., et al. (2012). Evaluation de la levée et de la croissance chez douze accessions de pourghère (Jatropha curcas) au Bénin. Bulletin de la Recherche Agronomique du Bénin (BRAB), 72, 1840–7099.
Gbadamosi, A. E. (2013a). Germination biology of Picralima nitida (Stapf) under pretreatments. Greener Journal of Biological Sciences, 3, 13–20.
Gbadamosi, A. E. (2013b). In-vitro propagation of Picralima nitida (Stapf) through embryo culture. African Journal of Biotechnology, 12, 3447–3454.
Gutterman, Y. (2000). Maternal effects on seeds during development. Seeds The Ecology of Regeneration in Plant Communities, 2(3), 59–84.
Keiper, F. J., & McConchie, R. (2001). Morphological variation among Sticherus flabellatus (Gleicheniaceae) populations of the Sydney region. Australian Journal of Botany, 49, 89–105. https://doi.org/10.1071/BT00035.
Keiper, F. J., & McConchie, R. (2000). An analysis of genetic variation in natural populations of Sticherus flabellatus [R. Br. (St John)] using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers. Molecular Ecology, 9, 571–581. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-294x.2000.00901.x.
Kreher, S. A., Fore, S. A., & Collins, B. S. (2000). Genetic variation within and among patches of the clonal species, Vaccinium stamineum L. Molecular Ecology, 9, 1247–1252. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-294x.2000.01002.x.
Neuenschwander, P., Sinsin, B., & Goergen, G. (2011). Protection de la Nature en Afrique de l’Ouest: Une Liste Rouge pour le Bénin Nature Conservation in West Africa: Red List for Benin. Ibadan: IITA.
Nzuki Bakwaye, F. (2016). Recherches ethnobotaniques sur les plantes médicinales dans la Région de Mbanza-Ngungu. PhD Thesis, Ghent University, Belgium. ISBN 978-90-5989-950-6
Olson, D. M., Dinerstein, E., Wikramanayake, E. D., Burgess, N. D., Powell, G. V., Underwood, E. C., et al. (2001). Terrestrial ecoregions of the world: A new map of life on EarthA new global map of terrestrial ecoregions provides an innovative tool for conserving biodiversity. BioScience, 51(11), 933–938. https://doi.org/10.1641/0006-3568(2001)051[0933:TEOTWA]2.0.CO;2.
Padonou, E. A., Kassa, B., Assogbadjo, A. E., Chakeredza, S., Babatoundé, B., & Glèlè Kakaï, R. (2013). Differences in germination capacity and seedling growth between different seed morphotypes of Afzelia africana Sm in Benin (West Africa). The Journal of Horticultural Science and Biotechnology, 88(6), 679–684. https://doi.org/10.1080/14620316.2013.11513024.
Parker, W. C., Noland, T. L., & Morneault, A. E. (2006). The effects of seed mass on germination, seedling emergence, and early seedling growth of eastern white pine (Pinus strobus L.). New Forests, 32, 33–49. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11056-005-3391-1.
Teugwa, C. M., Mejiato, P. C., Zofou, D., Tchinda, B. T., & Boyom, F. F. (2013). Antioxidant and antidiabetic profiles of two African medicinal plants: Picralima nitida (Apocynaceae) and Sonchus oleraceus (Asteraceae). BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 13, 175. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6882-13-175.
Volkoff, B., Faure, P., Dubroeucq, D., & Viennot, M. (1999). Estimation des stocks de carbone des sols du Bénin. Etude et gestion des sols, 6, 115–130.
White, F. (1983). The vegetation of Africa. Paris, France: UNESCO Natural Resources.
Yakeu, (2012). Local knowledge and socio-economic values of Picralima nitida (stapf) th. & H. Durand) in the humid forest zone of Cameroon: MSc. thesis, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Belgium.
Acknowledgements
Our honest thanks to "Centre d’Excellence Africain sur les Changements Climatiques, la Biodiversité et l’Agriculture Durable (CEA-CCBAD)" of Côte d'Ivoire which supported the cost related to data collection. All other charges have been supported by the authors.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Akabassi, G.C., Padonou, E.A., Déléké Koko, K.I.E. et al. Ecophenotypic variation of fruits, natural seed germination and seedling growth of Picralima nitida in Dahomey Gap: implication for conservation and valorization. Environ Dev Sustain 23, 7670–7685 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-020-00940-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-020-00940-6