Variation of shikimic acid and amino acids in tea leaves as influenced by glyphosate application

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted for consecutive two years to study the effect of glyphosate on biochemical attributes of tea. Experiment was laid out in randomized block design (RBD) consisted of four treatments viz. glyphosate 2.0 kg ha-1 , glyphosate 1.0 kg ha-1 , glyphosate 0.5 kg ha-1 and control. Tea samples were collected from the laid out experiment at fortnightly interval from imposed treatments for biochemical studies. Glyphosate at three levels of application i.e. 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 kg ha-1 decreased the values of all biochemical constituents i.e. total amino acids, amino acid profile, comprising six groups viz. aspartic acid, methionine, phenylalanine, leucine, theanine and glutamic acid, in tea leaves at zero day after application except shikimic acid content in tea leaves. The values of shikimic acid in tea leaves increased significantly on glyphosate application. In general, all biochemical constituents were influenced significantly upto 15 days after herbicide application except shikimic acid in tea leaves which were affected significantly upto 30 days after herbicide application. However, thereafter no significant effect was observed in any of biochemical constituents under study during both years.