Effects of manganese on biomass and effective constituents contents in Blumea balsamifera in slow growth period of winter

To investigate the effects of manganese (Mn) on biomass and effective constituents contents in Blumea balsamifera (L.) DC. in slow growth period of winter, the one-year-old B. balsamifera was applied with MnSO4·H2O in slow growth period of winter three times. The results showed that Mn significantly enhanced the growth indexes of the plant, especially the plant height, ground diameter, leaf length and leaf width. As a result, Mn extremely significantly increased the biomasses of leaves, stems and roots, respectively. The leaf biomass under 4 g/L Mn treatment was the highest, extremely significantly higher than that of other treatments. However, Mn could not enhance or affect indistinctively the relative contents of total flavones and l-borneol, but increased significantly the absolute contents of total flavones and l-borneol. The absolute content of total flavones under 4 g/L Mn treatment was the highest, followed 1 g/L 1 and 10 g/L Mn treatments, they were 7.62, 5.5 and 4.08 times compared with CK, respectively. The absolute contents of lborneol under 4 g/L Mn treatment was signifcantly higher than that of other treatments.