Effect of shading, nitrogen and magnesium fertilizer on phyllanthin and total flavonoid yield of Phyllanthus niruri in Indonesia soil

Phyllanthus niruri is widely used as traditional medicine especially in Indonesia. The need to produce a standardized herbal medicine raw material has urged a research to study the effect of shading, nitrogen (N) and magnesium (Mg) fertilizer dosage on phyllanthin and total flavonoid yield of P. niruri. Pot experiment was conducted by using Inceptisols soil from Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The study was carried out in a split plot design with three replications. The main plot was shaded with 3 levels (0, 60 and 95%). The subplots was urea and magnesium suphate (MgSO4) fertilizer (proportion 5 : 1) with 5 levels (0, 1+0.2, 2+0.4, 3+0.6 and 4+0.8). The period of harvesting were 1, 2 and 3 months after planting. The results indicated that application of 3 g urea, 0.6 g MgSO4 and 60% paranets shading could improve the plant growth, N-Mg uptake, total flavonoid and phyllanthin yield of P.niruri. Based on the regression curve, the optimum dosage that produced the highest total flavonoid yield was 2.68 g of urea and 0.54 g of MgSO4, while for obtaining the highest phyllanthin yield was 2.39 g of urea and 0.48 g of MgSO4 per plant. N and Mg absorption were positively correlated with total flavonoid and phyllanthin yield. The best period of harvest to obtain the highest total flavonoid and phyllanthin yield was 3 months after planting (plant age ± 4 months). Key words: Phyllanthus niruri, shading, nitrogen (N) and magnesium (Mg) fertilizer, phyllanthin, total flavonoi