EFFICIENT MICRO-ORGANISMS IN THE GROWING OF MEDICINAL PLANTS: QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE EVALUATION OF ITS SECONDARY METABOLITES
Medicinal plants, cultivation, efficient microorganisms
The use of medicinal plants is part of popular therapy, forming a cluster of skills internalized in users and practitioners. However, with the supply of industrialized medicines, use has decreased. In addition to obtaining medicinal plants with extraction, cultivation techniques are scarce, which reduces the quality assurance of these products. Soil fertilization increases productivity and biofertilizers have been used to replace chemicals. The use of Efficient Microorganisms (ME) as a biofertilizer consists of an association of cultures of beneficial microorganisms, found naturally in soils and that can increase microbial biodiversity. Some studies have shown that inoculation of ME crops acts to improve soil quality, in particular, in the synthesis of metabolites and in the development of the plant in general. In this context, the objective of this work was to evaluate the use of biofertilizer based on ME on general aspects of the development of three medicinal plants (Thymus vulgaris, Phyllanthus niruri and Mentha piperita) and soil composition. Macroscopic evaluations showed differences in leaf quantities and plant size in all species treated with ME. The evaluation of the soil composition indicated an increase in the content of P, Ca, Mg, Zn, Fe and Mn with the application of the fermented ME in relation to the control. From these results, it can be concluded that the application of ME in the soil is promising, since there was an increase in fertility indicator elements, and it is consolidated through macroscopic evaluation of plants.