Abstract:
The study focuses on the biological effect of the aqueous extract of spontaneous plants
(Haloxylon Scoparium; Euphorbia Guyoniana and Retama Raetam) harvested from Oued
N’sa and Oudneya Africana harvested from Oued N'tissa (wilaya of Ghardaïa) in February
2024. The plants are subjected to drying, grinding and reflux extraction to produce dried
extracts, phytochemical screening and testing of each extract on barley (Hordrum Vulgare), to
assess their effect on physiological parameters (germination rate, growth, water content) and
biochemical parameters (protein, sugar and pigment content). The tests were carried out at
different doses (0%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100%) of the plant extract. A high extraction
yield was noted for all plants, much more so for Retama raetam with 22.29±0.28%. All four
plants were rich in secondary metabolites, especially flavonoids and alkaloids. The barley
tested showed an increase in growth compared with the controls, with batches treated with
Oudenya africana showing maximum growth at 40% dilution with 12.62±0.35cm, and
maximum germination (100%) noted at 20% in batches treated with Oudneya africana and
Haloxylon scoparuim. Euphorbia guyoniana-treated batches showed high moisture levels
with 87.68±5.34% at the 20% dose. Barley treated with Oudneya Africana showed high
chlorophyll a+b levels at 60% with 1.013±0.33 (mg/g DM), high β-carotene levels at 60%
with 1341.12±1.28 (µg/100g DM) and high sugar levels at 80% with 10.16±0.28 (g/100g
DM). The high protein content was noted at the 40% dose of Haloxylon scoparuim extract
with 489.25±0.0005 (μg/100g MS).
Analysis of variance revealed a highly significant effect (S***) of each extract on the
majority of parameters studied, compared with the controls and between the different
concentrations, although the Euphorbia guyoniana plant extract showed no significant effect
on water content (S0) with (F=1.466; P=0.271>0.05). The results obtained show the
effectiveness of the majority of the aqueous extracts studied on the development of Hordrum
Vulgare.
