Morphological Characteristics and Chemical Composition of Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora L.) and Burdock (Arctium lappa L.) Cultivated Under Different Conditions.

Burdock (Arctium lappa L.) and American skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora L.) are medicinal plants that are highly rich in phytochemicals which contribute towards their therapeutic values. They also possess culinary values as herbal tea. The roots of Burdock are consumed as salad in Europe and Asian continents which are the regions of its origin. Currently, the plant materials of these plants are imported for their medicinal purposes by herbal practitioners and pharmaceutical industries in different countries of the world, including South Africa. However, the cultivation of these plants is lacking in South Africa and Africa as a whole. To achieve consistent supply of quality products and eliminate batch-to-batch variability of plant materials to meet up with the demand. A preliminary study on yield and phytochemical constituents of Arctium lappa L. as influenced by potassium and phosphorous fertilizer application and two different factorial experiments were conducted for Burdock on Takinogawa long cultivar with eight treatments (T1=N423P210K315, T2=N423P280k315, T3=N635P210K315, T4=N635P280K315, T5=N846P210K315, T6=N846P280K315, T7=N1058P210K315 and T8=N1058P280K315 Kg/ha) and five collection times laid out in a completely randomized design, replicated five times under 40% shade net in pot and field experiments. Fertilizer treatments were split into two equal doses at seedling stage and four weeks after transplanting. Data on morphological characteristics and yield were collected and analysed using SAS software. There was a significant (P0.05). For antioxidant activities, 2,2-diphyl-1-picrythydraxyl, Nitric oxide and hydrogen peroxide were significant (pS. lateriflora with the same procedure and application, but with different treatments (T1=N350P213K213, T2=N350P320K213, T3=N525P213K213, T4=N525P320K213, T5=N700P213K213, T6=N700P320K213, T7=N800P213K213 and T8=N800P230K213 Kg/ha). Fertilizer treatments and time of collection had a significant (p