RESEARCH ARTICLE Growth promoting potential of fresh and stored Moringa oleifera leaf extracts in improving seedling vigor, growth and productivity of wheat crop Shahbaz Khan 1 & Shahzad Maqsood Ahmed Basra 1 & Irfan Afzal 1 & Muhammad Nawaz 2 & Hafeez Ur Rehman 1 Received: 1 June 2017 /Accepted: 25 September 2017 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany 2017 Abstract Wheat is staple food of region, as it contributes 60% of daily caloric intake, but its delayed sowing reduces yield due to short life span. Moringa leaf extract (MLE) is considered to improve growth and development of field crops. Study comprised of two experiments. First experiment, fresh- ly extracted MLE and in combination with growth-promoting substances were stored at two temperature regimes. Chemical analysis, after 1, 2, and 3 months’ storage period, showed that phenolics and ascorbic acid concentrations decreased with increasing storage period. Fresh extracts improved speed and spread of emergence and seedling vigor. Effectiveness of MLE in terms of phenolics and ascorbate concentrations was highest up to 1 month which decreased with prolonged stor- age. Growth enhancing potential of MLE also reduced with increasing storage duration. Under field conditions, the bio- efficacy of these fresh and stored MLE was compared when applied as foliar spray at tillering and booting stages of wheat. Foliar applied fresh MLE was the most effective in improving growth parameters. Fresh MLE enhanced biochemical and yield attributes in late sown wheat. This growth-promoting potential of MLE decreased with storage time. Application of fresh MLE helped to achieve higher economic yield. Keywords MLE . Biostimulant . Growth . Storage life . Late wheat Introduction At present, wheat is a key staple cereal food for millions of people globally, and its demand is projected to increase strongly in near future. Among major factors responsible for low productivity is terminal heat stress due to abrupt changes in climatic conditions (PARC 2013). Increase in temperatures above optimum affects plant functions and productivity. Heat shock causes reduction in number of grains during anthesis to early grain filling stage and also reduces the grain filling pe- riod (Barlow et al. 2015).The level of sensitivity of wheat to heat is highest during reproductive stage, especially after heading which relates to period in growing season where high temperatures are frequent. Short heat stress (≥ 35 °C) at post- anthesis stage can significantly reduce grain weight in wheat and decreases grain quality. Late planted wheat plants have to complete all growth and developmental stages in lesser time (Khan et al. 2006) which results in great loss of yield due to high temperature during grain filling period. It is reported that wheat yield decreases by 6% for every 1°C rise in temperature above the optimum. High temperature decreases cytokinin content in dwarf wheat variety which is responsible for reduced kernel weight and its dry weight. Different techniques and strategies are being practiced to compensate these yield losses. One of them is the use of different plant growth enhancers and biostimulants. Biostimulants are natural crop growth enhancer. These not only enhance the yield and crop quality but also induce tolerance to abiotic stresses (EBIC 2010). Natural sources like seaweed extracts, protein hydrolysates and amino acids, humic acid, fulvic acid, complex organic materials, chitin and chitosan derivatives, microbial inoculants, biochar, and plant extracts are most commonly used biostimulants in agriculture (du Jardin 2015;Glodowska et al. 2016). Water extracts of different plant are being used for growth enhancement. Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues * Shahbaz Khan shahbaz2255@gmail.com 1 Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan 2 Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, BZU, Bahadur Campus, Layyah, Pakistan Environ Sci Pollut Res DOI 10.1007/s11356-017-0336-0