Studying the behavior of Titanium (bulk and nanoparticles) in the soil and its effect on the growth and productivity of Salvia fruticosa L. plant.

THE PRESENT experiment was undertaken to study the behavior of titanium in soil and the effect of application methods (foliar spraying or soil injection) and TiO₂ concentrations (0, 5, 7.5, and 10 ppm as nanoparticles or 25, 50, and 75 ppm as bulk particles) as well as their interaction treatments on Salvia fruticosa (three-lobed sage) plant. In most cases, the tallest plants, the maximum yield of dry herb/feddan, yield of volatile oil/feddan, values of chlorophyll, and nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium (NPK) values of Salvia fruticosa were achieved from the interaction treatment between foliar spraying and 10 ppm TiO₂ nanoparticles while the main components of three-lobed sage essential oil were 1,8-cineole, camphor, α-pinene, and camphene, respectively. Also, from the sequential extraction method of Ti in soil, the highest fraction of Ti was found in residual forms at each of the treatments. This confirmed that using TiO₂ (bulk or nanoparticles) in either soil or foliar application is harmless and improved chlorophyll production and consequently improved photosynthesis which leads to increased productivity of the plants under this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]