on the naked nodes of the main shoots or in the axils of the thorns. Fruits are globular or
obscurely 3-lobed, pulpy berries, purplish black when ripe; seeds with hard and brittle testa.
Agrotechnology
The plant comes up well under a wide range of tropical and subtropical climate.
Fertile moist sandy loam soils are ideal for its cultivation though it grows in a wide range of
soils. Better root development is observed in soils in increased proportion of sand.
However, a decline in the yield of the crop is noticed in soils containing previous year’s
residue of the roots. Asparagus plant is best grown from its tuberous roots even though it can
be successfully propagated through seeds. Since root tubers are of commercial value seed
propagation provides economic advantage to the farmers. Seeds usually start germinating
after 40 days and average germination is 70% (Tewari and Misra, 1996).
For the cultivation of the crop, the land is ploughed well with pre-monsoon showers
and seed nurseries are raised on seed beds of approximately 1m width, 15cm height and
suitable length. Seed nursery should be irrigated regularly and kept weed free. With the
onset of monsoon in June-July the main field is ploughed thoroughly and pits of size 30cm
cube are dug at a spacing of 60-100cm. Tiwari and Misra (1996) have reported that
irrespective of more number of roots and higher fresh weight per plant under wider spacings,
the per hectare yields were highest in the closer spacing of 30cm x 30cm. The pit is filled
with a mixture of top soil and well decomposed FYM or compost applied at 10 - 15 t/ha and
the seedlings are transplanted. Application of N, P 2 O 5 and K 2 O at 60:30:30 kg/ha increases
the root yield. Regular irrigation and weeding are required to realize higher yields.
Standards are to be provided for training the plant (Sharma et al, 1992). Few pests and
diseases are observed on this crop. Harvesting the crop after two years provided higher root
yield than annual harvests in pots as well as in field experiments. Irrigating the field prior to
harvest enables easy harvesting of the root tubers. The average yield is 10 - 15 t/ha of fresh
root tubers though yields over 60t/ha have been reported.
Properties and Activity
Asparagus roots contain protein 22%, fat 6.2%, Carbohydrate 3.2%, Vitamin B
0.36%, Vitamin C 0.04% and traces of Vitamin A. It contains several alkaloids. Alcoholic
extract yields asparagin- an anticancer agent. It also contains a number of antioxytocic
saponins, viz. Shatavarisn - I to IV (Syamala, 1997). Leaves contain rutin, diosgenin and a
flavonoid glycoside identified as quercetin - 3 - glucuronide. Flowers contain quercetin
hyperoside and rutin. Fruits contain glycosides of quercetin, rutin and hyperoside while fully
ripe fruits contain cyanidin - 3 - galactoside and cyanidin - 3 - glucorhamnoside.
Root is demulcent, diuretic, aphrodisiac, tonic, alterative, antiseptic, antidiarrhoeal,
glalctogogue and antispasmodic. Aerial part is spasmolytic, antiarrhythmic and anticancer.
Bark is antibacterial and antifungal.