© IJARW | ISSN (O) - 2582-1008 August 2019 | Vol. 1 Issue. 2 www.ijarw.com IJARW1023 International Journal of All Research Writings 46 INFLUENCE OF ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZAL FUNGI AND BIOSTIMULANTS ON BIOMASS PRODUCTION AND PHYTOCHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF MORINGA OLEIFERA Djouhou Fowe Michelle Carole 1 , Fokou Elie 2 , Nwaga Dieudonné 3 1 Department of Biochemistry, Laboratory of Food Science and Metabolism, The University of Yaoundé I, P. O. Box 812 Yaoundé, Cameroon 2 Department of Biochemistry, Laboratory of Food Science and Metabolism, The University of Yaoundé I, P. O. Box 812 Yaoundé, Cameroon 3 Department of Microbiology, Laboratory of Soil Microbiology, Biotechnology Centre, The University of Yaoundé I, P. O. Box 812, Cameroon ABSTRACT An experiment was conducted to evaluate the influence of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and biostimulants on the biomass production and phytochemical composition of Moringa oleifera. The substrate was made of a mixture of soil and sand. The experiment design was a factorial design with four treatments containing 22 replications. Bio-fertilizers were applied then Moringa seeds were sown. Data collected were analysed using ANOVA at p < 0.005. It appeared that AMF and biostimulants increased the production of leaves and roots of Moringa. Four months after planting, the AMF + biostimulants treatment had the best values in terms of the number of leaves (58.07), collar diameter (8.7 mm) and stem size (21.76 cm); allowing their plants to have the highest fresh material weight (37.98 ± 1.01 g for leaves and 573.04 ± 21.39 g for roots) compared to other treatment’s plants. The plants of the control treatment have the lowest results. Moringa oleifera leaves and roots harvested four months after planting had several groups of secondary metabolites. AMF + biostimulants is the treatment that proved to be the best because each of its plants had the largest biomass values and some secondary metabolites with antioxidant activities. Keyword: Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, biostimulants, phytochemical composition, biomass, Moringa oleifera 1. INTRODUCTION To restore the productive potential of soil, fertilization is a commonly used practice [1]. Thus, chemical manures are the most used when talking of soil fertilization but arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and biostimulants can be used to substitute these chemical compounds that cause health and environmental problems. They can achieve the balance between contributions and needs of plants [2;3]. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are commonly occurring fungi that live in an obligate symbiotic status with the majority of land plants. The term “mycorrhiza” is derived from the Greek “myco” (fungus) and “rhiza” (root). Mycorrhizae are associated with plant roots through an extensive (extraradical) network of hyphae in the soil, which acts as an extension of the plant’s root system. Mycorrhizal symbiosis lead to a positive influence on plant growth, which is mainly attributable to the ability of AMF to take up nutrients from the soil and deliver them to the roots of its host, and also to enhance the health of its host by protecting it from pathogens, pests, and parasitic plants [4;5]. A plant biostimulant is any substance or microorganism applied to plants with the aim to enhance nutrition efficiency, abiotic stress tolerance and/or crop quality traits, regardless of its nutrients content. Moringa oleifera, also called ben ailé, benzolive, moringoa [6] is an Indian shrub from the Moringaceae family and widespread in tropical countries. This plant is also described as miracle tree because of its socio-economic importance [7]. It has applications in nutrition, pharmacy, medicine, industry and can be used as animal forage, green manure, ornamental plant, gum [8;9;10]. The plant is highly rich in proteins, fats, fibres and antioxidants, and contains several