Effect of Intertillage in the Medical Peony Cultivation and Grass Managements on Paeoniflorin Content and Yield

In the cultivation of the medical peony (Paeonia lactiflora Pallas), effect of inter-tillage in the medical peony cultivation and grass managements on paeoniflorin ingredient and yield was investigated. The experiment was conducted on cultivation and grass managements at Tsukuba medicinal herb research institute Tsukuba Peony Garden. From the result, inter-tillage management substantially reduced weed biomass compared with grass management, and the yield of peony and content of paeonifrorin were different between the inter-tillage and the grass management. In the field experiment that grew second-year peony, there was no significant difference in paeoniflorin content in August, 2014.Positive correlations between dry weight of root and aboveground dry weight, and between paeoniflorin content and weed biomass were observed. And paeoniflorin content and yields were both higher in the grass management than in the inter-tillage in November, 2014. In the field that grew 5 year-peony, paeoniflorin content was higher in the grass management, and root dry weight was higher in the inter-tillage in October, 2017.Negative correlations between root dry weight and aboveground dry weight, and between weed biomass and root dry weight were found in 2017. Positive correlation between paeoniflorin content and weed biomass was also observed. In the grass management, paeoniflorin content tended to increase because of the competition between peony and weed grass.