Intoxication of wheat seedlings with 50 mM NaCl and follow-up attempt to “cure” by extremely diluted NaCl (30cH)
Pia Lamest, Elke Liebig, P. C. Endler
Abstract
Background: “High level of salinity deteriorates seed germination, growth and yield of crops in cultivated lands all over the world. There is no effective remedy to mitigate this global problem”, Mondal, Sukul et al.1 summed up the background of their study that led to the conclusion that homeopathically prepared, extremely diluted Natrum muriaticum (NaCl) 200cH promotes seed germination in seedlings of cowpea under salt stress.
Aim: To investigate if the wheat germination model standardized at the Interuniversity College2,3 can be useful in investigating the NaCl issue; i.e. the study was not designed as a replication of the study by Mondal, Sukul et al.1
Methods: Grains of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum) were observed under the influence of extremely diluted NaCl (10-60) prepared by stepwise dilution and agitation according to a protocol derived from homeopathy (“N30c”). Analogously prepared water was used for control (“W30c”). Grains (500 per group) were pretreated (intoxicated) with (non-agitated) NaCl 50mM (“N”) or with water (“W”) prior to treatment with N30c or W30c. Seedlings were allowed to develop under standardized conditions for 32 h; germination of stalks and of roots were monitored at intervals of 4 h.
Results: With regard to intoxication, the figure below shows that the groups treated with N (black lines) exhibited less growth than the W control groups (white lines). With regard to the attempt to “cure”, the N+N30c group (black dashed line) was not statistically different from the N+W30c group (black solid line), and the W+N30c group (white dashed line) was not statistically different from the W+W30c group (white solid line).
Conclusion: The hypothesis that treatment of wheat seedlings with the extreme dilution NaCl 30cH will “cure” the effect of previous intoxication with NaCl 50 mM on seed germination could not be accepted. If further experiments are to be performed on the wheat model, these should include different intoxication solutions (e.g. 100mM1), different treatment dilutions (e.g. 200cH1) or different durations of the experiment3. The use of cowpea1 instead of wheat should also be considered.
Keywords: homeopathy, wheat stalk growth, NaCl, salt, high dilution