Enhanced Vigor in Growth and Accumulation of Anthocyanins with Abscisic Acid Treatment in Malva sylvestris L

Plants of Malva sylvestris L. were studied for change in growth pattern and their anthocyanin production, malvidin and delphinidin with abscisic acid (ABA) treatment. Exogenous administration of ABA as foliar spray for five successive days significantly increased anthocyanin content up to five fold with induced morphological variations by increasing height, leaf mass, leaf number, fresh and dry weight in comparison to untreated plants. By using traditional chilled acidified methanol the total anthocyanins were extracted and estimated by pH differential spectroscopic method. The anthocyanins were purified by C18 Sep-Pak column and further analyzed by thin layer chromatographic (TLC) and high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) methods. The result of the study using ABA as stress inducer evidenced a positive response with induction of high anthocyanin production showing vigorous growth of the plants.