Document Type : Research Article

Authors

Tehran

Abstract

Introduction: Organic production is one of the important aspects in the medicinal plants industry and the use of organic fertilizers is very important in this topic. Seaweeds are important marine living resources with tremendous commercial applications and many commercial products from seaweed extract are used in agriculture and horticulture. Seaweed extracts can be used in liquid form as a foliar spray, soil drench or in powder and granular forms as soil conditioners and manure. Using seaweed extracts as fertilizers can improve plant productivity, because they contain growth-promoting hormones. Several studies have also shown that the seaweed extracts can suppress plant diseases and insect pests. Nowadays, seaweed extract is used as an organic fertilizer in order to increase the quantitative yield of medicinal plants and also resistance to environmental stresses. Summer savory is one of the medicinal and spice plants that has a high area under cultivation in our country for food and medicine. Various studies on its essential oil had been shown that it contains high amounts of phenolic compounds like Carvacrol, γ-Terpinene, Thymol, p-Cymene, β-Caryophyllene, Linalool, and other terpenoids.
 Materials and Methods: In order to study the effect of different levels of seaweed fertilizer on the growth characteristics, plant material yield, essential oil percentage of summer savory, an experiment was conducted as a randomized complete block design with 3 replications at the Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University (TMU) during 2017. The treatments included: 0 (control), 2.5, 5 and 10 ml/liter seaweed fertilizer that they were used as a foliar application for three times in the growing season. According to the meteorological data, the area had an average rainfall of 246 mm and a semi-arid climate. In order to determine the physical and chemical properties of the soil, soil sampling and testing were done. To prepare the field, the soil tillage operation was carried out using a 40 cm depth plow. Then, plots with a 2 × 2 meters at a distance of half a meter from each other were prepared. The seeds used in this experiment were prepared from Varamin landrace, which is mainly cultivated by farmers in Tehran and Alborz provinces. Sowing operation was carried out manually. In each plot, 7 rows (30 cm spacing between rows) were cultivated and all of the plots were irrigated in the same conditions. The organic fertilizer (Bioalgax) used in this experiment was based on an extract of seaweed (Ascophyllum nodosum), which was obtained from the Kimitec company, Spain. This fertilizer is a natural source of phytohormones such as cytokinins, auxins, and gibberellins and also, it has some minerals. After reaching the height of 20 cm (eight weeks after planting), spraying of the fertilizer solutions was applied three times during the growing season at intervals of 10 days. The foliar application was carried out at sunset time by using a manual sprayer. The harvest was carried out at full flowering stage and 3 plants of each plot were harvested. The studied traits were: plant height, stem diameter, the number of branches, leaf length, and width, shoot fresh and dry weight, root fresh and dry weight, SPAD index, essential oil yield and content.
  Results and Discussion: The results showed that different concentrations of seaweed fertilizer had a significant effect on the number of branches, shoot dry weight, root fresh and dry weight, leaf width and plant height at 1% probability level. They also had a significant effect on the shoot fresh weight, essential oil percentage, and yield at 5% probability level. On the basis of the results, the highest number of branches (35.44), leaf length and width (43.22 and 8.07 mm), stem diameter (5.00 mm), root fresh and dry weight (15.17 and 6.42 g), shoot fresh and dry weight (181.01 and 37.69 g) and SPAD index (48.13) were obtained from 10 ml/liter seaweed fertilizer and the lowest amounts were observed in control treatment. The maximum plant height (54.66 cm) and the highest percentages and the yield of essential oil (2.51% and 6.28 g/m2) were also obtained from 5 ml/liter seaweed fertilizer. According to the results, the response of summer savory to the use of seaweed fertilizer was positive and it could be placed in the fertilization program of farmers.

Keywords

1. Adesemoye A.O., Torbert H.A., and Kloepper J.W. 2009. Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria allow reduced application rates of chemical fertilizers. Microbial ecology, 58(4), 921-929.
2. Alam, M. Z., Braun, G., Norrie, J., & Hodges, D. M. 2013. Effect of Ascophyllum extract application on plant growth, fruit yield and soil microbial communities of strawberry. Canadian Journal of Plant Science, 93(1), 23-36.
3. Andrea, C., Lingua, G., Bardi, L., Masoero, G., & Berta, G. 2007. Influence of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on growth and essential oil composition in Ocimum basilicum var. Genovese. Caryologia, 60(1-2), 106-110.
4. Arun, K. S. 2002. A handbook of Organic Farming. Pub. Agrobios, India.
5. Azaz, D., Pemircif, M.N., and Baser K.H. 2002. Antimicrobial activity of Satureja oils. Zeitschrift für Naturforschung, 57: 817–821.
6. Bezić, N., Šamanić, I., Dunkić, V., Besendorfer, V., & Puizina, J. 2009. Essential oil composition and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence variability of four South-Croatian Satureja species (Lamiaceae). Molecules, 14(3), 925-938.
7. Blunden, G., & Wildgoose, P. B. (1977). The effects of aqueous seaweed extract and kinetin on potato yields. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 28(2), 121-125.
8. Chatterji, A., Dhargalkar, V. K., Sreekumar, P. K., Parameswaran, P. S., Rodrigues, R., & Kotnala, S. 2004. Anti-influenza activity in the Indian seaweeds-A preliminary investigation. In the proceeding of the 2004 National Seminar on New Frontiers in Marine Bioscience Research, pp: 11-16.
9. Chojnacka, K., Saeid, A., Witkowska, Z., & Tuhy, L. 2012. Biologically active compounds in seaweed extracts—the prospects for the application. In The open conference proceedings journal, 3, (1), 20-28.
10. Chouliaras, V., Tasioula, M., Chatzissavvidis, C., Therios, I., & Tsabolatidou, E. 2009. The effects of a seaweed extract in addition to nitrogen and boron fertilization on productivity, fruit maturation, leaf nutritional status and oil quality of the olive (Olea europaea L.) cultivar Koroneiki. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 89(6), 984-988.
11. Dobromilska, R., Mikiciuk, M., & Gubarewicz, K. 2008. Evaluation of cherry tomato yielding and fruit mineral composition after using of Bio-algeen S-90 preparation. Journal of Elementology, 13(4), 491-499.
12. Durairatnam, M. 1961. Contribution to the study of the marine algae of Ceylon. Bulletin of the Fisheries Research Station, Ceylon, 10, 1-181.
13. Elansary, H. O., Yessoufou, K., Shokralla, S., Mahmoud, E. A., & Skalicka-Woźniak, K. 2016. Enhancing mint and basil oil composition and antibacterial activity using seaweed extracts. Industrial Crops and Products, 92, 50-56.
14. Erulan, V., Soundarapandian, P., Thirumaran, G., & Ananthan, G. 2009. Studies on the effect of Sargassum polycystum extract on the growth and biochemical composition of Cajanus cajan (L.). American-Eurasian Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Science, 6(4), 392-399.
15. Featonby-Smith, B. C., & Van Staden, J. 1983. The effect of seaweed concentrate and fertilizer on the growth of Beta vulgaris. Zeitschrift für Pflanzenphysiologie, 112(2), 155-162.
16. Featonby-Smith, B. C., & Van Staden, J. 1984. The effect of seaweed concentrate and fertilizer on growth and the endogenous cytokinin content of Phaseolus vulgaris. South African Journal of Botany, 3(6), 375-379.
17. Gollan, J. R., & Wright, J. T. 2006. Limited grazing pressure by native herbivores on the invasive seaweed Caulerpa taxifolia in a temperate Australian estuary. Marine and Freshwater Research, 57(7), 685-694.
18. Güllüce, M., Sökmen, M., Daferera, D., Aǧar, G., Özkan, H., Kartal, N. & Şahin, F. 2003. In vitro antibacterial, antifungal, and antioxidant activities of the essential oil and methanol extracts of herbal parts and callus cultures of Satureja hortensis L. Journal of Agricultural and food chemistry, 51(14), 3958-3965.
19. Hadian, J., Tabatabaei, S. M. F., Naghavi, M. R., Jamzad, Z., & Ramak-Masoumi, T. 2008. Genetic diversity of Iranian accessions of Satureja hortensis L. based on horticultural traits and RAPD markers. Scientia Horticulturae, 115(2), 196-202.
20. Heydari, M., Daneshian Mogaddam, A.M., Nourafcan, H. 2017. Effect of Vermicompost and Liquid Seaweed Fertilizer on Morpho-physiological Properties of Marigold (Calendula officinalis L.). Journal of Crop Ecophysiology, 10 (4), 891-906. (in Persian with English abstract)
21. Heywood, V.H. 2002. The conservation of genetic and chemical diversity in medicinal and aromatic plants. PP. 13 22. In: Sener, B. (Ed.), Biodiversity: Biomolecular Aspects of Biodiversity and Innovative Utilization, Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York Jannin, L., Arkoun, M., Etienne, P., Laîne, P., Goux, D. on 32: 31–52. Indian Botanical Society, 71 (1):19-21.
22. Jayasinghe, P. S., Pahalawattaarachchi, V., & Ranaweera, K. K. D. S. 2016. Effect of Seaweed Liquid Fertilizer on Plant Growth of Capsicum annum. Discovery, 52, 723–734.
23. Karagiannidis, N., Thomidis, T., Lazari, D., Panou-Filotheou, E., & Karagiannidou, C. 2011. Effect of three Greek arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in improving the growth, nutrient concentration, and production of essential oils of oregano and mint plants. Scientia horticulturae, 129(2), 329-334.
24. Kumar, G., & Sahoo, D. 2011. Effect of seaweed liquid extract on growth and yield of Triticum aestivum var. Pusa Gold. Journal of Applied Phycology, 23(2), 251-255.
25. Malakouti, M. J. 2018. Optimal fertilizer use recommendations for yield increase and production of healthy crops: determinig quality, type and time of fertilizer application for achaving an obtainable self-sufficiently, sustinable food security and optimizing farmers income (4thedition, completely revised). Moballeghan publishing. Farmers house Tehran- Iran. (in Persian with English abstract)
26. Melero, S., Vanderlinden, K., Ruiz, J. C., & Madejon, E. 2008. Long-term effect on soil biochemical status of a Vertisol under conservation tillage system in semi-arid Mediterranean conditions. European Journal of Soil Biology, 44(4), 437-442.
27. Mihajilov-Krstev, T., Radnović, D., Kitić, D., Stojanović-Radić, Z., & Zlatković, B. 2010. Antimicrobial activity of Satureja hortensis L. essential oil against pathogenic microbial strains. Archives of Biological Sciences, 62(1), 159-166.
28. Nelson, W. R., & Van Staden, J. 1984. The effect of seaweed concentrate on growth of nutrient-stressed, greenhouse cucumbers. HortScience, l9(l), 8l-82.
29. Nelson, W.R. & van Staden, J. 1986. Effect of seaweed concentrates on the growth of wheat. South African Journal of Science, 82, 199-200.
30. Omidbaigi, R. 1997. Approaches to Production and Processing of Medicinal Plants. Vol two. Tarrahan e Nashr Publication. Tehran, Iran. (In Persian).
31. Özkalp, B., & Özcan, M. M. 2009. Antibacterial activity of several concentrations of sater (Satureja hortensis L.) essential oil on spoilage and pathogenic food-related microorganisms. World Applied Sciences Journal, 6(4), 509-14.
32. Papenfus, H. B., Kulkarni, M. G., Stirk, W. A., Finnie, J. F., & Van Staden, J. 2013. Effect of a commercial seaweed extract (Kelpak®) and polyamines on nutrient-deprived (N, P and K) okra seedlings. Scientia Horticulturae, 151, 142-146.
33. Paul, J. and Shridevi, S.D.K. 2014. Effect of seaweed liquid fertilizer of Gracilria dura (Red seaweed) on Pennisetum glaucum in Thoothukudi, Tamil nadu, India. Indo American Journal of Pharmaceutical Research, 4 (4): 2231-6876.
34. Pramanick, B., Brahmachari, K., & Ghosh, A. 2013. Effect of seaweed saps on growth and yield improvement of green gram. African Journal of Agricultural Research, 8(13), 1180-1186.
35. Saa, S., Rio, O. D., Castro, S., & Brown, P. H. 2015. Foliar application of microbial and plant based biostimulants increases growth and potassium uptake in almond (Prunus dulcis). Frontiers in Plant Science, 6, 1-9.
36. Sabir, A., Yazar, K., Sabir, F., Kara, Z., Yazici, M. A., & Goksu, N. 2014. Vine growth, yield, berry quality attributes and leaf nutrient content of grapevines as influenced by seaweed extract (Ascophyllum nodosum) and nanosize fertilizer pulverizations. Scientia Horticulturae, 175, 1-8.
37. Shahbazi, F., Nejad, M. S., Salimi, A., & Gilani, A. 2015. Effect of seaweed extracts on the growth and biochemical constituents of wheat. International Journal of Agriculture and Crop Sciences, 8(3), 283.
38. Sharma, A.K. 2002. Biofertilizers for Sustainable Agriculture. Agro-bios, India.
39. Sivasankari, S., Venkatesalu, V., Anantharaj, M., & Chandrasekaran, M. 2006. Effect of seaweed extracts on the growth and biochemical constituents of Vigna sinensis. Bioresource Technology, 97(14), 1745-1751.
40. Street, R. A. 2012. Heavy metals in medicinal plant products—An African perspective. South African Journal of Botany, 82, 67-74.
41. Tawaha, K., Alali, F. Q., Gharaibeh, M., Mohammad, M., & El-Elimat, T. 2007. Antioxidant activity and total phenolic content of selected Jordanian plant species. Food Chemistry, 104(4), 1372-1378.
42. Tawfeeq, A., Culham, A., Davis, F., & Reeves, M. 2016. Does fertilizer type and method of application cause significant differences in essential oil yield and composition in rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.). Industrial Crops and Products, 88, 17-22.
43. Van Staden, J. 1976. Seasonal changes in the cytokinin content of Ginkgo biloba leaves. Physiologia Plantarum, 38(1), 1-5.
44. Vijayakumar, S., Durgadevi, S., Arulmozhi, P., Rajalakshmi, S., Gopalakrishnan, T., & Parameswari, N. 2018. Effect of seaweed liquid fertilizer on yield and quality of Capsicum annum L. Acta Ecologica Sinica, In press
45. Zodap, S.T., A. Gupta, S.C. Bhandari, U.S. Rawat, D.R. Chaudhary, K. Eswarana, and J. Chikara. 2011. Foliar application of seaweed sap as biostimulant for enhancement of yield and quality of tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum Mill). Journal of Scientific and Industrial Research, 70, 215-219.
CAPTCHA Image