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The sage is a perennial medicinal and aromatic plant belonging to the Lamiaceae family. Macro-micro elements have an important place in the development of this plant. One of these elements is selenium. This study aims to examine the effect of foliar selenium (Se) application on the agronomic, biochemical, and bioactive properties of sage. The plant height (PH), fresh herb yield (FHY), dry herb yield (DHY), and dry leaf yield (DLY) as agronomic properties, and Se content in the plant (SCP), ascorbic acid content (AAC), total phenolic content (TPC), antioxidant activity (AA) and mineral composition (MC) as biochemical and bioactive properties were investigated in this context. The experiment was carried out in four replications over three years in 2018, 2019, and 2020. In the study, 0 (control), 100, 200, 400, and 800 g ha−1 Se were applied to sage leaves. At the end of the study, it was determined that Se application was effective on the agronomic characteristics of the sage, except for the first year. The application of 100 g ha−1 Se in FHY, DHY, DLY, AA, and TPC properties emerged as the recommended dose since it reached the highest values. In addition, it was evaluated that the Se application did not have a statistically significant effect on the SCP. For years with statistical significance, 400 g ha−1 Se application was recommended in terms of AAC and 100 g ha−1 Se application in terms of AA and TPC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bio-stimulants are gaining importance for elevating the stagnated yield level resulting from continuous use of chemical fertilizers (CF) in many crops, however, their use in pomegranate have not been fully explored. Two years of field experiments were conducted on a 5-years old pomegranate cv. Bhagwa orchard to investigate the effects of different combinations of commercial bio-stimulant products namely, microbial-based product A containing consortium of Rhizophagus spp. (5 kg ha−1), seaweed extract-based granular formulation D (30 kg ha−1) and liquid formulation B (625 and 1250 ml ha−1) through soil application as well as wettable granular formulation, C (1 and 2 g l−1) and liquid formulation, E (1 ml l−1) through foliar sprays along with chemical fertilizers on soil fertility, trees' nutrition, fruit yield and quality of pomegranate. Results showed that integrated use of CF and bio-stimulants significantly increased the number of bisexual flowers. However, the combination of microbial-based product A (5 kg ha−1), seaweed extract based liquid formulation B (625 ml ha−1) in soil and foliar spary of seaweed extract based wettable granular formulation C (1–2 g l−1) with CF resulted in production of the highest fruit yield (increased by 41.97–51.61%) with 23.08–33.38% increase in the exportable grade fruit and improved quality attributes viz. ascorbic acid, anthocyanin, non-reducing sugar, protein, and mineral content of fruits through enhancement in soil fertility and trees' micronutrient status compared to only CF. These doses combinations of bio-stimulants along with CF gave rise to the highest benefit–cost ratio of 2.10–2.34:1 and hence can be recommended for sustainable pomegranate cultivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pakchoi (Brassica campestris ssp. Chinensis) is a leafy vegetable which has been widely cultivated and consumed worldwide due to its low calorific value, a large supply of macro and micronutrients, beneficial phytochemicals and fibers. Amino acids have a vital role in plant nutrition; however, the effect of glycine and nitrate (Gly/NO3-N) on health-promoting phytochemicals, biomass, and antioxidant activities has gained a little attention. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the impact of glycine and nitrate on health-promoting phytochemicals and yield/biomass of pakchoi. Glycine and nitrate were employed in different proportions (control, Gly/NO3-N = 3:1, Gly/NO3-N = 1:1, and Gly/NO3-N = 1:3 in the Venlo greenhouse, Shanghai Jiao Tong university, China. Results showed that compared to control, the treatment with Gly/NO3-N notably increased the secondary metabolites like polyphenols, flavonoids, glutathione (GSH), ascorbic acid (vitamin C), antioxidant potential (FRAP and DPPH value), and biomass in pakchoi plants. The contents of all antioxidants were high under the treatment of Gly/NO3-N（1:1). Interestingly, the contents of flavonoids were significantly enhanced (107.10%) by Gly/NO3-N = 1:1 than control plants. Furthermore, the content of Phe increased by 33.79%-86.32%, and also the activity of catabolic enzymes (CHI, CHS, C4H, and PAL) of the polyphenols pathway was found to be significantly enhanced while the activity of 4CL and DFR was restrained by the treatment of Gly/NO3-N, compared with control plants. In addition, the correlation analysis of polyphenols and flavonoids with Phe, PAL, C4H, CHS, and CHI showed a positive correlation, while a negative correlation was found in the case of 4CL and DFR. Taken together, the current findings suggest that the application of Gly/NO3-N enhanced polyphenols metabolism as well as increased the total polyphenolic content and antioxidant activity. Consequently, this combination of glycine and nitrate could be used to promote beneficial phytochemicals and yield/biomass of pakchoi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of micronutrients namely zinc (Zn) and boron (B) with or without farmyard manure (FYM) on growth, yield and quality parameters viz. ascorbic acid and carotene content of tomato was evaluated. A field experiment was conducted with graded doses of Zn (soil and soil + foliar application) and B (soil application) application with or without FYM for the two consecutive years (2012 and 2013). Results revealed that application of Zn and B significantly enhanced fruit yield and different growth parameters as well as plant tissue concentration of Zn and B in tomato. The highest increase in fruit yield over control (27.6%) was observed with the conjoint application of Zn (soil + foliar), B (2.0 kg ha−1) and FYM. Soil application of Zn at higher doses (10 kg ha−1) as well as its application through both soil + foliar method has an edge over control or its application at comparatively lower doses in increasing the fruit yield of tomato. Results further revealed that combined application of Zn and B can significantly increase the important quality parameters viz. carotene and ascorbic acid content in tomato. Such increase in carotene content to the tune of 25 and 35% and ascorbic acid content to the tune of 7 and 30% over control were observed with soil + foliar application of Zn and 2 kg ha−1 B, respectively. Therefore, optimization of Zn and B doses can improve the yield and quality of tomato as well as helps in correcting the micronutrients malnutrition vis-à-vis nutritional disorders in humans by enriching the antioxidants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese kale microgreens are gaining interest for its phytochemical compounds and anti-cancer properties mainly from glucosinolates. Zinc is an essential for plant growth and is involved with phytochemicals accumulation. This study investigated the different concentration of ZnSO4 on the enhancement of the phytochemicals and quality of Chinese kale microgreens. Three-day-old seedlings were sprayed with 2 and 4 mM of ZnSO4 until harvesting on days 4, 5, 6 and 7. ZnSO4 significantly decreased the fresh weight of 6 and 7-day-old microgreens and dry weight on the 7th day. The total glucosinolates, total phenolic compounds and total ascorbic acid, gradually rose as the age of microgreens increased. When the 3-day-old microgreens were sprayed at 6, 12 and 18 mM, the fresh and dry weight and hypocotyl length of 7-day-old microgreens significantly decreased as the concentration increases. ZnSO4 at 18 mM was the most effective in enhancing phytochemicals, resulting in increased DPPH radical scavenging activity and ferric reducing antioxidant power. This concentration also induced phenylalanine ammonia lyase activity resulting to an increase in total phenolic compounds. Moreover, ZnSO4 at 18 mM induced H2O2 content but are sufficiently countered with the increase in antioxidant enzymes namely superoxide dismutase, catalase, and ascorbate peroxidase. In conclusion, the 3-day-old microgreen was the most effective age for the start of the daily spraying of ZnSO4 before harvesting at 7-day-old. Higher concentrations of ZnSO4 (6-18 mM) enhanced the phytochemical compounds and enzymatic antioxidant activities but reduced growth. In contrast, lower concentration (< 4 mM) only improved microgreens growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aril paleness and sunburn of fruits in pomegranate are important disorders that significantly reduce marketability. The present research conducted to evaluate the effects of kaolin on pomegranate fruit quality and arranged as factorial design based on completely randomized block including time of spraying (late May or early July) of kaolin (KP) and different levels of KP. Data showed that there was a negative correlation between aril potassium (K) content and peel K content with aril paleness disorder. KP significantly decreased fruit temperature, sunburn (SB) and aril paleness, but, K contents in aril and peel, fruit quality (total phenol and vitamin C) and total aril weight significantly improved. Application of kaolin in late May was more useful compared with early July. Conclusion: Regarding to data, it is concluded that application of kaolin on pomegranate trees grown under hot climate is very useful improving fruit marketability and decreasing aril paleness disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of plant-growth-promotion rhizobacteria will play a vital role in phosphorus (P) fertilizers management because of the restricted P resources within the world. In this regard, a greenhouse experiment was performed to evaluate the effect of Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis) in different concentrations of P (12.5, 25, 37.5, 50 and 62.5 mg L−1) on growth, P uptake and quality characteristics of 'Lollo Rosso' lettuce in hydroponic condition. The results showed that the effect of B. subtilis on growth, biochemical attributes and P concentration in plant tissues was significant. So that, only the fresh weight of leaves in bacterial treatments increased by about 21% compared to the control. Without B. subtilis, P application enhanced multiple plant growth indices, P uptake and antioxidant compounds in 'Lollo Rosso' plants. The finding of this experiment also clearly indicated that in inoculated plants with a 25% reduction in P consumption in nutrient solution (37.5 mg L−1 treatment) quality characteristics of lettuce such as flavonoids and vitamin C contents and also root and shoot P concentrations were not significantly different from the 50 mg L−1. Our results recommend that the utilization of B. subtilis in hydroponic condition can improve growth, quality characteristics, and P uptake and ultimately decrease the use of P fertilizers, which can be an efficient tool for sustainable agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tomato is an important vegetable crop which provides approximately 40% of the daily recommended vitamin C and vitamin A, which supports human health. The experiments were laid out in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) having four treatments and four time repetition under high tunnel. Nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) fertilizers were applied at the rate of 60:60:60 kg/ha or 1:1:1 to T1, T2 and T3 after each 10, 20 and 30 day's interval while Zn (5 kg/ha) was applied as a basal dose. The highest marketable yield was observed for T2 after each 20 days of NPK application. Maximum Grad-A fruit among the treatments was recorded for T1, Grade-B for T2 & T3 and Grade-C for T0. Highest density was recorded for T2, % moisture for T0, maximum chlorophyll content in leaves was recorded for T2 while highest shelf life was noted for T1, T2 and T3 except T0. The fruit and straw of tomato was analyzed to determine N, P and K (%) by using standard protocol. Among all the treatments highest N, P and K in fruit was observed for T1. In case of straw maximum N was observed for T1 whereas high level of P and K was recorded for T2. Similarly the total NPK uptake were in the order as: T1 > T2 > T3 >T0, respectively. Experiential findings revealed that application of NPK after each 20 days are the suitable interval to get high marketable yield and highly bio-fortified and quality tomato crop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of different N applications with different planting dates on yield, leaf nutrients and some quality parameters of head lettuce (Lactuva sativa L. var. capitata cv. Bombola) grown in substrate-culture. The experiment was conducted in an unheated plastic polyethylene (PE) covered greenhouses of the Ege University Bayındır Vocational Training School in Turkey during the winter-early spring of 2016-2017. The trial was established in a randomized block design (RBD) with four replications. In this study, the development and yields ​​of iceberg seedlings, grown at four different planting dates (8th and 23th of February; 9th and 23th of March), were determined under three different nitrogen applications (75, 150, and 250 mg N L−1). The results showed that the studied traits were affected by the treatments, so that the highest yield (334 g head−1), number of leaves (39), DW (4.56%), and Vit.C (13.45%) was obtained on 23th of Feb. (second planting date). According of Nitrogen applications, highest yield (399 g/head), number of leaves (40), DW (5.13%) was found in 150 mg L−1 N application. Overall results indicated that the most suitable cultivation period for iceberg was February, which was the first (8th Feb.) planting date in this current study. Second planting date of experiment (23rd Feb.) was also acceptable for the suitable cultivation. It was also concluded that 75–150 mg N L−1 applications could be recommended for the nutrition of iceberg in soilless culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant growth promotion using beneficial bacteria is an eco-friendly approach to meet the worldwide need for raising crop yields. This research was done in a greenhouse during 2017 and 2018 seasons to investigate the effect of bacterial biofertilization using three strains, AP-28 of Pseudomonas koreensis, AP-29 of Ralstonia pickettii, and AP-51 of Bacillus cereus on kale plants. Seeds of kale plants were soaked in bacterial solutions for three hours and compared with untreated seeds. Our results exhibited that the highest significant differences in vegetative growth, including plant length (16.76 and 15 cm), leaf number (14.33 and 14.00), and leaf area (100.52 and 99.73 cm2) were obtained from AP-51 treatment compared with control (11.33 and 10.67 cm), (10 and 11.67) and (100.52 and 99.73 cm2) in both seasons, respectively. In both seasons, seed treatment with AP-51 produced the highest significant ascorbic acid (1.373 and 1.309 mg/g) compared with control (6.82 and 8.23 mg/100g, respectively). The highest phenolic contents in both seasons were produced by AP-51 (1.83 and 2.10 mg/g) compared to untreated plants (1.31 and 1.46 mg/g, respectively). AP-51 recorded the highest yield (95.81 and 94.75 g/plant) compared with control (72.92 and 82.76 g/plant) in both seasons, respectively. Macronutrients (N, P, K, Ca, and Mg), as well as microelements (Fe, Cu, and Zn), were examined. The treatment with plant growth-promoting bacteria has been recognized as an environmentally sustainable approach to reduce the inputs of chemical fertilizers and to increase crop productivity, phytochemical composition, and mineral contents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the effects of four concentrations of humic acid (0, 0.5, 1, and 1.5 kg ha−1, HA applied to the soil) and kinetin (0, 25, 50, and 75 mg L−1, KT, foliar sprayed) on vegetative growth, yield and biochemical attributes of radish cv. Watermelon, grown in two seasons of spring and autumn, were investigated. Results showed that, the number of leaves per plant, leaf area and chlorophyll content increased with application of HA and KT in both seasons, while the high levels of treatments had no significant effect on leaf number per plant and chlorophyll content in spring season. The root diameter, fresh weight and yield increased significantly with application of HA and KT in both seasons, though, this increase was noticeable in the autumn season. Our results also showed that radish root treated by HA and KT exhibited higher root firmness, vitamin C, anthocyanin content and total soluble solids (TSS), especially in autumn cultivation. Macronutrient contents of root including magnesium (Mg), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), nitrogen (N), and calcium (Ca) were significantly enhanced by HA and KT, however high concentration of KT in combination with high concentration of HA decreased some nutrient contents. Generally, the results of this study demonstrated that cultivation season is one of the most important management tools to minimize the negative effects of high temperature during root development. In addition, the benefits of KT spray combined with HA were inconsistent between both seasons, but showed more in the autumn crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, effect of water shortage on onion growth and quality was evaluated under soil humic acid (HA) application. Three levels of irrigation namely: a1; 80%, a2; 70% and a3; 60% of field capacity (FC) were supplied to plants in combination with two levels of HA namely: b1; 0 and b2; 100 mg/kg soil, in a factorial and completely randomized design with four replications. The interaction of irrigation and HA was significant on leaf dry weight, vitamin C, calcium, total chlorophyll and bulb flavonoids, while the onion fresh yield was not affected by treatments. Many plant growth traits showed a reducing trend with deficit irrigation levels. The leaf biomass as well as the leaf concentrations of potassium, calcium and zinc were significantly decreased under highest water deficit treatment (60% FC; a3b1 and a3b2) compared to control (a1b1) treatment. Leaf vitamin C and calcium concentration showed almost a similar response in which their highest levels were observed in a1b2 treatment, while the lowest amounts were recorded under higher water shortage (a3b1), and application of HA (a3b2) significantly increased these traits under higher water shortage. The amounts of bulb flavonoids and phenols were increased by deficit irrigation and application of HA further increased their content under highest deficit irrigation. The results indicate that water deficit particularly at highest level reduced onion plant growth, while soil application of HA significantly increased the growth and quality traits including leaf biomass, vitamin C, and minerals like Ca, as well as bulb flavonoids under water deficit conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leaf spraying of silicon (Si) depending on the source and concentration can biofortify the tomato fruit by increasing the content of ascorbic acid and the firmness of the fruit. The objective of this study was to determine whether foliar spraying of Si from different sources and at several concentrations provided Si biofortified tomatoes and to evaluate their technological quality. The experiment was carried out in a greenhouse in a pot. The treatments consisted of four Si sources (monosilicic acid, potassium silicate, potassium silicate and sodium silicate mixture, and nanosilica) and four Si concentrations (0.0, 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 g L−1) arranged in randomized blocks with five replicates. After flowering, the Micro-Tom tomato plants were sprayed with Si once a week for five weeks. Si applied via foliar in the reproductive phase of tomato plants is efficient for providing Si biofortified tomato while the concentration of 0.4 g L−1 Si from the monosilicic acid source resulted in the highest increase of ascorbic acid, titratable acidity, and fruit firmness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]