Volume 15, Issue 2 (Journal of Soil and Plant Interactions 2024)
2024, 15(2): 19-32 |
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Department of Horticultural Sciences, Garmsar Branch, Islamic Azad University, Garmsar, Iran.
Abstract: (711 Views)
Abstract
Nowadays, the use of agricultural wastes is very important for improving the production of agricultural products. Applying biochar, as a soil conditioner, reduces the chemical fertilizer requirements, preserves soil water storage and improves the growth and quality of horticultural products. To investigate the effect of biochar in the planting bed of Kapi pepper (Capsicum annuum L.), an experiment was carried out as a completely randomized design with three replications in 2022 in a commercial greenhouse located in Garmsar City. The treatments included wheat straw biochar with the application rates of zero, 10, 20, 40 and 60 g kg-1 soil. The assessed traits included fresh and dry weights of fruit, fruit length and number of fruits per plant, cell membrane stability index, soluble solids, titratable acidity, pH, vitamin C, anthocyanin and total chlorophyll content. Moreover, the activity of peroxidase, catalase and superoxide dismutase enzymes. The results showed that the treatments had a significant effect on the studied traits, so that the highest fresh and dry fruit weights, cell membrane stability index, fruit length, and number of fruits per plant were obtained in the biochar treatment of 40 g kg-1 soil. Moreover, the highest values of titratable acidity, vitamin C, anthocyanin and peroxidase enzymes activity were observed in this treatment. Besides, the highest values of dissolved solids, pH and total chlorophyll content were recorded in the biochar treatment of 60 g kg-1 soil, while having the lowest values in all attributes of the control. According to the results, applying biochar at the rate of 40 g kg-1 soil could improve the morphological and biochemical characteristics of Kapi pepper.
Background and Objectives: Kapi pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) is a good source of antioxidant compounds and is rich in vitamin C, carotenoids, phenolic compounds and potassium (Olatunji and Afolayan, 2018). Today, the use of biochar as a soil conditioner has attracted the attention of researchers. Biochar is enriched with carbon that adsorbs nutrients and provides them to the plant when needed. As a result, the need for fertilizer and the cost of fertilization are reduced. The biochars provide moisture for the plant, improving fruit growth and quality (Bakhshipour et al., 2022). Therefore, this research was conducted to investigate the effect of wheat straw biochar on the growth, physiological and biochemical characteristics of Kapi pepper.
Methods: This experiment was conducted as a completely randomized design with three replications in 2022 in a commercial greenhouse located in Garmsar City. The treatments included wheat straw biochar with the application rates of zero, 10, 20, 40, and 60 g kg-1 soil. First, the seeds of the Kapi pepper were planted in a planting tray containing peat moss bed. After one month of transplanting, they were transferred to pots containing different treatment ratios. Sampling was done three months after transplanting to evaluate the traits of fresh and dry weights of fruit, fruit length and number of fruits per plant, cell membrane stability index, soluble solids, titratable acidity, pH, vitamin C, anthocyanin and total chlorophyll content. Moreover, the activity of peroxidase, catalase and superoxide dismutase enzymes was assessed.
Results: According to the results, the treatments had a significant effect on the studied traits. The highest fresh and dry weights of the fruit (i.e., 57.43 and 12.56 g), cell membrane stability index (85.39%), fruit length (12.56 cm), number of fruits per plant (29.50), titratable acidity (1.13%), vitamin C (102.61 mg 100 g-1 FW) and anthocyanin (9.94 mg g-1 FW) were recorded in the biochar treatment of 40 g kg-1 soil. Furthermore, the activity of peroxidase, catalase and superoxide dismutase enzymes (4.25, 5.98 and 4.25 U enzyme g-1 FW) increased in this treatment. The highest soluble solids (4.95 degrees Brix), pH (4.98) and total chlorophyll content (4.43 mg g-1 FW) were obtained in the biochar treatment of 60 g kg-1 soil, while control was the lowest in all of the studied traits.
Conclusions: The application of wheat straw biochar had a positive effect on the growth and biochemical characteristics of Kapi pepper. Therefore, the use of biochar especially at the rate of 40 g kg-1 soil could improve the growth and physicochemical characteristics of Kapi pepper (Capsicum annuum L.).
References:
1. Bakhshipour, F., Mumivand, H., Sedaghati, E., Ehteshamnia, A., 2022. Effects of biochar and arbuscular mycorrhiza on biomass and some nutrients of two parsley varieties. Iranian J. Hortic. Sci. 52(4), 1027–1041. https://doi.org/10.22059/ijhs.2020.300237.1790. (In Persian with English abstract)
2. Olatunji, TL., Afolayan, AJ., 2018. The suitability of chili pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) for alleviating human micronutrient dietary deficiencies: A review. Food Sci. Nutr. 6, 2239–2251. https://doi.org/10.1002/fsn3.790.
Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
Soil (growth medium) and plant relations in greenhouse culture
Received: 2023/12/16 | Accepted: 2024/03/11 | Published: 2024/11/25
Received: 2023/12/16 | Accepted: 2024/03/11 | Published: 2024/11/25
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Journal of Soil and Plant Interactions by http://jspi.iut.ac.ir is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License which allows users to read, copy, distribute and make derivative works for non-commercial purposes from the material, as long as the author of the original work is cited properly.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License which allows users to read, copy, distribute and make derivative works for non-commercial purposes from the material, as long as the author of the original work is cited properly.
