Soilless Cultivation of Galega officinalis L

Soilless culture, commonly known as hydroponics, is a technique of growing plants without soil, in which all nutrients are supplied by a nutrient solution with or without substrate. Advantages of this system are controlled environment, minimum risk of contamination, and quality products. The interest in growing medicinal plants in hydroponics is increasing in many countries including: Eastern Europe, China and Japan. The genus Galega consists of six species, distributed throughout Eurasia and North Africa, but only Galega orientalis and Galega officinalis have agronomic importance as forage used to increase the milk production in mammals and as green manure. Also, Galega officinalis is used in traditional medicine for the treatment of diabetes and obesity, mainly due to the presence of galegine [1]. Considering that G. officinalis is a noxious weed, therefore growing the species in a controlled environment is also a safety issue. The objectives of this study were to compare the changes on the biomass, chemical compounds, and nutrient content in plants grown using hydroponics as compared to soil, at different stages of growth. Our results indicate that the biomass (leaves and roots) was almost 20 times higher using a hydroponics system as compared to soil when harvested at 45, 60, 75 and 90 days after transplanting. In conclusion, G. officinalis has adapted to soilless cultivation and the system has produced high quality of biomass. Acknowledgments: Partial financial support of the USDA Cooperative Agreement No 58–6408–7-012. Reference: [1] Mooney MH, Fogarty S, et al. (2008) Br J Pharmacol, 153(8): 1669–1677.