صحتِ انسانی اور صحت مند ماحول میں نباتات کا کردار: سائنس اوراسلامی تعلیمات کے تناظر میں ایک مطالعہ

The research paper deals with role of plants in human health and healthy environment in the context of Qur'anic verses and science. The concept of growing plants for health rather than for food or fiber is slowly changing plant biotechnology and medicine. Rediscovery of the connection between plants and health is responsible for launching a new generation of botanical therapeutics that include plant-derived pharmaceuticals, multi component botanical drugs, dietary supplements, functional foods and plant-produced recombinant proteins. Many of these products will soon complement conventional pharmaceuticals in the treatment, prevention and diagnosis of diseases, while at the same time adding value to agriculture. Holy Quran describes the importance of rain as pure water to irrigate dead soil and emergence of life (plant’s growth) from the dead soil. Plants provide foods for human beings and are necessary for healthy environment. Man is an omnivore who gets his food from both plant and animal sources. However, for immediate energy, humans rely more on plant starches and soluble sugars, including glucose and edible sugar. Generally, our normal diet consists of rice or wheat bread which is a very important source of starch.  Sugar and fats are the two most important components of food managed by plants. Apart from this, the man manages vegetables and salads from plants which are the guarantors of his health/survival in modern times. There are many reasons for diversity in plants. The obvious reason is the chemistry of that particular piece of land, what kind of minerals/salts and other nutrients that land has and what types of plants can grow there in their presence. In this research written with a descriptive and analytical approach, it is proved that according to Quran and science plants have a great role in human health and healthy environment.

Salinity and Boron Interaction in Maize

Soil salinity is a major problem that threatens the sustainability of agriculture in the world including Pakistan. Boron toxicity is also an important problem as it decreases plant growth and crop yields in different regions of the world. Boron is usually present at high concentration in saline soil and removed slowly during the process of leaching, therefore it may be present at toxic level after reclamation of soil. A series of experiments were carried out to study the growth of maize (Zea mays L.) under salinity and boron toxicity. For screening against salt stress initially six maize genotypes (EV-20, EV-78, KS-64, R-2303, R-2310, and R-2315) were allowed to grow in 1⁄2 strength Hoaglands solution. The required salinity level of 75 mM NaCl was developed by adding NaCl, whereas no salt was added in control. After 30 days plants were harvested manually and ranking of genotypes was done to identify salt tolerant and salt sensitive genotypes. EV- 78 and R-2303 were ranked as salt tolerant and moderately tolerant where as KS-64 and R-2315 were recognized as salt sensitive and moderately salt sensitive maize genotypes. In a set of experiments these selected genotypes were grown in solution culture under different treatments of NaCl and boron to monitor the growth, physiological and biochemical characteristics. Salinity level of 75 mM NaCl was developed with NaCl while in control no salt was added and boron levels of 2.5 mM and 5 mM were developed with supply of boron as H 3 BO 3 . The studied parameters showed that reduction in growth traits was more in salt sensitive genotypes (KS-64, R-2315) than the salt tolerant genotypes (EV-78 and R-2303) particularly under 5.0 mM B in saline conditions. EV-78 and R-2303 accumulated less Na + and boron, and more K + as compared to KS-64 and R- 2315. The decreasing trend was observed in relative water contents and membrane stability index in sensitive and tolerant genotypes with increasing level of boron in saline conditions, but this reduction was less in salt tolerant genotypes. The physiological traits like photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance and transpiration rate were also decreased with the toxic boron concentration under both saline and non saline conditions. The resistant genotype EV-78 produced better growth and yield under the combined salinity and boron toxicity as compared to the sensitive genotype KS-64 also by better management of oxidative stress.