PRODUCTION OF MEDICINAL-PLANTS BY SOILLES S CULTURE SYSTEM .1. STUDIES OF MORPHOLOGICAL-CHARACTERISTICS AND SAIKOSAPONINS CONTENT IN BUPLEURUM-FALCATUM CULTIVATED BY EBB AND FLOOD SYSTEM

We studied that the morphological and histological characteristics, an d the content (%DW) of saikosaponins on the root of Bupleurum falcatum cultivated in an Ebb & Flood system (E&F), a kind of soilless culture system, by both the direct sowing and the transplanting methods, and that effects of pinching on the root growth and the content (%DW) of s aikosaponins in each part of root. Yield of root and content (%DW) of saikosaponins in each part of root, 8-months-old, cultivated in E&F by both methods were at the same level as that cultivated for the same p eriod in soil conditoin by generally standard procedures. Morphologica l characteristics of the root cultivated by the direct sowing method w ere the same appearance as that by soil condition, but by the transpla nting method main root branched off in all direction and the lateral r oot were more developed than by the direct sowing method. By pinching lignification in xylem on the main root were inhibited, but the dried weight of total root part and content (%DW) of saikosaponins in each p art of the root were not shown to be significantly changed.