Growing vegetables
Mohammad Hossein Aminifard; Sajjad Nadafan; Hassan Bayat; Mehdi Jahani
Abstract
IntroductionThe annual herb Trigonella foenum-graecum L. (Fabaceae) is cultivated worldwide as a semi-arid crop. It is commonly known as Fenugreek and used as both a spice and medicinal plant. Fenugreek is used to treat many ailments due to the presence of various bioactive compounds, like apigenin, ...
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IntroductionThe annual herb Trigonella foenum-graecum L. (Fabaceae) is cultivated worldwide as a semi-arid crop. It is commonly known as Fenugreek and used as both a spice and medicinal plant. Fenugreek is used to treat many ailments due to the presence of various bioactive compounds, like apigenin, luteolin, orientin, quercetin, vitexin, isovitexin, saponins, amino acids, phenols, alkaloids, etc. Combining chemical and organic fertilizers offers a sustainable approach to nutrient management. This integrated strategy enhances the effectiveness of chemical fertilizers, fosters improved soil health, and minimizes nutrient loss from the system.Chicken manure is one of the types of animal manure and a source of organic matter to strengthen all types of soil. In addition to having nutrients, it is one of the cheap fertilizers compared to common fertilizers in the production of crops, and it is richer in nitrogen than other animal fertilizers. Potassium is a critical element for plant growth and development, playing a vital physiological role in plant health and resilience against biotic and abiotic stresses. Materials and MethodsTo investigate the effect of chicken manure and potassium sulfate on yield and biochemical traits of the fenugreek medicinal plant, factorial research was conducted in the form of randomized complete block design in three replications in the crop year 2021-2022. Experimental treatments included chicken manure at three levels (0, 1000, and 2000 kg.ha-1) and potassium sulfate at four levels (0, 1.5, 3, and 5 per thousand). To determine the seed yield after full ripening, the seeds were collected from one plant in each plot, weighed, and recorded. Arnon's method was used to measure the pigments in the leaves at the full flowering stage of the plant. To measure the amount of total phenolic compounds in the leaf using the Folin Cicalto method, antioxidant using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method, total sugar using anthrone method, total flavonoid using aluminum chloride reagent method was used in the full flowering stage of the plant. Results and DiscussionThis experiment revealed that chicken manure significantly boosted crop yield and improved most biochemical traits, with the exception of sugar and antioxidant content.The amount of antioxidant activity decreased with increasing levels of chicken manure and soluble sugar was not affected by this manure. Treatment of 2000 kg.h-1 chicken manure has the highest phenol with 10.793 mg.g-1 dry weight, flavonoid with 4.475 mg.g-1 dry weight, Chlorophyll a with 2.591 mg.g-1 of fresh weight, Chlorophyll b with 3.055 mg.g-1 of fresh weight, and seed yield with 1185.8 kg.h-1. Regarding the impact of Soluptas on biochemical traits, all except phenol and antioxidant content peaked at a concentration of three parts per thousand. Notably, these peak levels were statistically indistinguishable from those observed at five parts per thousand.Treatment of 5 per thousand Soluptas also increased 28% seed yield, 13% soluble sugar, 20% phenol, 31% flavonoid, and 97% chlorophyll b. In the interaction effect in the treatment, it was observed that the highest amount of the two fertilizers had the highest amount of yield and biochemical traits, except for the antioxidant, whose activity level decreased with the increase of fertilizer levels. The results showed that the highest amount of soluble sugar in fenugreek leaves was related to the level of no chicken fertilization with Soluptas 5 per thousand at the rate of 21.53 mg.g-1 dry weight. The highest levels of both treatments (2000 kg.h-1 of chicken manure and Soluptas 5 per thousand) caused an increase in grain yield (1396 kg.h-1), phenol (12.86 mg.g-1 DW), and chlorophyll b (3.62 mg.g-1 FW) compared to no fertilization (control level). The highest amount of chlorophyll a was related to the interaction of 2000 kg.h-1of chicken manure and Soluptas 3 per thousand at the rate of 3.11 mg.g-1 of fresh weight. ConclusionOverall, chicken manure exhibited the strongest positive influence on the greatest number of traits among the single treatments. When considering the combined effects, a combination of 2000 parts per thousand chicken manure and 5 parts per thousand Soluptas appears to be optimal for enhancing the fenugreek plant's properties.
Growing vegetables
Mohammad Hossein Aminifard; Mahboobeh Askarian; Mehdi Jahani; Mehdi Khayyat
Abstract
Introduction
Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) is an annual and herbaceous plant of the family of Lamiaceae. It is used as an antispasmodic, appetizer, carminative, diuretic, lactation aid, and sedative in traditional medicine. In general, basil is rich in phenols and flavonoids. Organic and chemical ...
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Introduction
Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) is an annual and herbaceous plant of the family of Lamiaceae. It is used as an antispasmodic, appetizer, carminative, diuretic, lactation aid, and sedative in traditional medicine. In general, basil is rich in phenols and flavonoids. Organic and chemical fertilizers are necessary for each other and both types of fertilizers are needed to create favorable conditions to improve biochemical traits. Overuse of chemical fertilizers has caused several problems in agriculture including changes in the soil structure, contamination of underground waters, and heavy metal toxicity. Agricultural scientists suggest replacing chemical fertilizers with organic products to reduce negative effects on environment and soil properties. In recent years, neglecting the importance of organic matters to improve soil fertility has led to an increase in chemical fertilizer use in Iran. Organic matters due to their positive effects on soil are identified as one of the important pillars of soil productivity. However, more than 60 percent of agricultural soils in Iran contain less than one percent of organic matter. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the influence of vermicompost and copper sulfate on biochemical parameters and the antioxidant activity of basil.
Materials and Methods
To investigate the effect of vermicompost and copper sulfate on the biochemical characteristics of Basil's medicinal plant, a factorial experiment was conducted based on randomized complete block design with a field experiment at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Birjand. The factors included vermicompost in three levels (0, 5, and 10 t.ha-1) and copper sulfate in three levels (0, 3, and 6 per thousand) with three replications. After applying the treatments and after the plants entered the flowering stage, ten plants from each plot were randomly selected taking into account the marginal effects and then samples of the developed leaves of 10 plants were randomly prepared and the biochemical traits of basil were measured. Measured traits included photosynthetic pigments, antioxidants, phenols, anthocyanins, flavonoids, total sugar, and biological function. Statistical analysis of data was performed using SAS statistical software.
Results and Discussion
The results of the mean comparison showed that vermicompost had a significant effect on chlorophyll content, antioxidant activity, anthocyanin, flavonoids, sugar, and biological function of basil so that the highest amount of flavonoids (3.26 mg.g-1) with the application of 10 t.ha-1 of vermicompost and the lowest Its amount (2.65 mg.g-1) was obtained from the control. Treatment of 10 t.ha-1 of vermicompost increased plant sugar by 37.05% compared to the control. Copper sulfate also affected chlorophyll a and total, antioxidant activity, phenol, anthocyanin content, sugar, and biological function, so that the highest activity of phenol and sugar (15.29 and 12.99 mg.g-1, respectively) of the treatment of 3 per thousand Copper sulfate and its lowest levels (10.98 and 9.19 mg.g-1, respectively) were obtained from the control. The results of interactions also showed the highest levels of chlorophyll a (1.62 mg.g-1), chlorophyll b (2.57 mg.g-1), total chlorophyll (4.19 mg.g-1), antioxidant activity (92.57%), and anthocyanins (3.03 mg.g-1) was obtained by applying 10 tons per hectare of vermicompost and 3 per thousand of copper sulfate. Furthermore, the highest increase in biological function (20968.3 kg.ha-1) with the application of 5 t.ha-1 of vermicompost and 6 per thousand copper and the lowest (16596.7 kg.ha-1) was related to the control.
Conclusion
In general, the results indicated a positive effect of vermicompost and copper sulfate on Basil's biochemical characteristics. Therefore, vermicompost (10 t.ha-1) of and copper sulfate (3 per thousand) treatments can be suggested as a suitable treatment. From the present study, it can be concluded that the combined application of organic fertilizers with chemical fertilizers has a useful and effective role in improving photosynthetic pigments, antioxidants, anthocyanins, and the biological function of basil. In the discussion of basil production as a medicinal and vegetable plant, the best results in terms of crop production were related to the combined treatments of organic and chemical fertilizers, because these treatments have increased the production relative to organic treatments alone.
