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| CASE REPORT |
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| Year : 2015 | Volume
: 1
| Issue : 2 | Page : 76-80 |
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Syncretist Effect of Organic and Chemical Fertilizers on Quantitative and Qualitative Properties of Spinach
Shiva Abdollahi, Mehrdad Jafarpour
Department of Agriculture, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran
| Date of Web Publication | 27-Nov-2015 |
Correspondence Address:
Mehrdad Jafarpour
Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan
Iran
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/2423-7752.170592
Aim: Spinach is one of the foliage vegetables from the beet family. This plant originated from Iran and is very important. In the current study, the syncretist effects of organic and chemical fertilizers on quantitative and qualitative properties of spinach were evaluated in the research center of the Islamic Azad University of Khorasgan. Materials and Methods: Treatments included horse compost, horse vermin compost, chicken compost, mushroom compost, mushroom vermin compost, mushroom vermin compost plus mushroom compost, chemical fertilizer, and soil without any fertilizer as the control group. All treatments were reported 4 times in 64 plots and each plot divided into two parts (8% and 12% of organic fertilizer). Conclusion: Our findings showed that the highest amount of Vitamin C and chlorophyll was in the control group. We also found that the highest amount of solid soluble content and pH were in 12% horse compost (9.3) and 8% horse compost (8), respectively. The application of organic fertilizers instead of chemical fertilizers not only increases the quality of product and improve the performance but also causes a permanent production. Keywords: Chemical fertilizer, compost, spinach, vermin-compost, qualitative properties
How to cite this article:
Abdollahi S, Jafarpour M. Syncretist Effect of Organic and Chemical Fertilizers on Quantitative and Qualitative Properties of Spinach. J Earth Environ Health Sci 2015;1:76-80 |
How to cite this URL:
Abdollahi S, Jafarpour M. Syncretist Effect of Organic and Chemical Fertilizers on Quantitative and Qualitative Properties of Spinach. J Earth Environ Health Sci [serial online] 2015 [cited 2023 Mar 23];1:76-80. Available from: https://www.ijeehs.org/text.asp?2015/1/2/76/170592 |
| Introduction | |  |
Spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) is a foliage vegetable from the beet family that its leaf and shoots served as both crude and boiled vegetable. [1] This plant has been originated from central Asia and probably from Iran. Spinach is a diploid, annual, long day, and monoecious plant. Dioecious genotypes of this plant have also been reported. [2] This is one of the most important vegetables. It has the potential to trigger free radicals because it contains minerals, proteins, antioxidants, and Vitamins A, B, and C. Spinach is one of the most important plants in Chenopodiaceae family which is used both for medical and food applications. It is a rich source of essential elements such as iron and selenium. [3] Spinach is the 10 th among 45 popular fruits and vegetables considering vitamins and minerals content. There is a high amount of calcium in spinach which is not accessible because it is an oxalate calcium. Oxalic acid also can combine with iron and magnesium making them inaccessible. [4] Spinach seeds are used as a sedative and have an important role in fever, stomach, and intestine inflammation treatment. These seeds are febrifuge because it contains the high amount of mucilage. The plant also contains antibacterial compounds and folic acid which are useful for anemia treatment. [5] The interest for medical plants production and demand for natural products are increasing in the world in a way that 20 th century has been named the century of returning to our medicinal roots or back to our nature.
The high percentage of using chemical fertilizers decreases the plants performance because of soil acidification, soil biological activity reduction, soil physical properties fall, and lack of micronutrients in fertilizers. [6] In most of the cases, chemical fertilizers application causes environmental pollutions and ecological problems, which increases production costs. [7] On the other hand, chemical fertilizers have useful effects on chemical, physical, biological properties, and fertility of soil so they are important elements of the soil. [8] Organic compost and vermin compost fertilizers have been used successfully for various agricultural products in the world. These fertilizers not only improve the food quality but also improve soil physical and microbial properties. [9] In a study, the application of organic fertilizers in mint was examined. The function of plant in organic culture was 80% of popular culture. [10] In another study, on yarrow, use of organic fertilizer increased biomass and essence content. [11]
In the current study, organic fertilizers have been used for the spinach culture, and their properties were compared with those of plants that have been cultured using chemical fertilizers.
| Materials and Methods | | |
This study was conducted between the years 2012 and 2013 in the research center of the Islamic Azad University of Khorasgan. We did the study as complete accidental blocks with eight treatments, including horse compost, horse vermin compost, chicken compost, mushroom compost, mushroom vermin compost, mushroom vermin compost plus mushroom compost, chemical fertilizer, and soil without any fertilizer as the control group. All treatments were done 4 times and 8 and 12% by volume of organic fertilizers with 64 plots were used.
For Vitamin C measurement, 15 ml of distilled water and 2 ml of reagent were added to 10 ml of spinach extract, and 0.01 normal iodine solution which contained 16 g potassium iodide was used for titration, and then the amount of Vitamin C was calculated.
The evaluation of sugar content was done by using refractometer. Some of the spinach extracts have been placed on the machine plate after its calibration and the machine showed the amount of spinach sugar as a number.
We used Metrohm pH meter for pH evaluation and spectrophotometer for chlorophyll measurement. Statistical analysis of data was done using SSCP® - Systems Security Certified Practitioner (GB Department, UK based) software version 19.
Duncan test was used for the comparison of mean date (P value: 5%). All the diagrams were drawn in the excel software.
| Results and Discussion | | |
Vitamin C
Ascorbic acid changes in spinach were significant based on the variance analysis (P value: 1%). The comparison of the effects of various bed cultures on the amount of Vitamin C showed that the highest amount of Vitamin C is related to the control group (51.91) and the lowest one is related to the horse compost (20.12) [Figure 1]. Zhang 2013 has reported that alkaline circumstances cause ascorbic acid instability which is in direction with our findings. Spinach is a rich source of minerals, iron, and ascorbic acid. [12] Vitamin C is one of the most important dietary factors in vegetables and fruits and more than 90% of required human Vitamin C is in vegetables and fruits.
pH
pH variations were significant (P value: 1%) [Table 1]. The comparison of the effects of various bed cultures on the value of pH showed that the highest pH was related to 8% horse compost (7.71) and the lowest one was related to 12% chicken compost (6.3) [Figure 2]. Yamaguchi have been reported that the best pH for the culture of this plant is between the ranges of 6.5 and 8. Khosrowshahi and Esnaashar have been found that chlorophyll was stable in the alkaline conditions. In acidic situation, magnesium atom of chlorophyll will exit and hydrogen atom will seat instead of it. Horse fertilizer, because of its special properties, contains high amount of nitrogen which may convert to ammonium, alkalinize bed, and consequently increases the pH.
Solid soluble content
Solid soluble content changes were significant (P value 1%). We compared the means and found that the highest solid soluble content was related to 12% horse vermin compost (9.3) and the lowest one was related to 8% chicken compost (5.3) [Figure 3]. It has been determined based on the previous research studies that on-time harvest of plant and the preservation of quantitative and qualitative properties of product are important factors that increase the solid soluble content. The increase of solid soluble content is a result of starch hydrolysis to simple sugars such as fructose and glucose. [13] In general, organic acids decrease at the time of ripening and convert to various sugars. So, organic acids reduction is followed by solid soluble content enhancement. These results are in direction with our findings. | Figure 3: The effect of bed culture on spinach solid soluble content (total soluble solid)
Click here to view |
Chlorophyll
Chlorophyll changes were significant in spinach plant based on the variance analysis table (P value 1%) [Table 1]. The comparison of the effects of various bed cultures on the amount of chlorophyll showed that the highest amount of chlorophyll was related to control group and the lowest amount was related to 12% horse compost [Figure 4]. Chlorophyll, which is the source of green color in plants, is very fragile and can destroy easily. [14] Ryan stoneham and Tong mentioned that many factors affect on chlorophyll catalysis, including pH, temperature, metal ions, and enzymes. Chlorophyll catalysis is slower in lower temperatures while in lower pH chlorophyll catalyzes faster. Burdurlu also mentioned that chlorophyll content changes are related to pH. He believed that when pH decreases, the chlorophyll catalysis increases. Pandrangi, et al. also reported that changes in spinach leaf color are the result of chlorophyll catalysis. Mirzaei and Talarposhti have reported that organic fertilizers usage caused iron ion enhancement in soil. In our study, the amount of iron in soil with organic fertilizer was 76% higher than the control and chemical fertilizer soil. Iron is one of the necessary elements for the activation of chlorophyll synthetase enzymes. It is also a part of ferredoxin which plays an important role in the electron transfer. [15],[16],[17],[18],[19],[20],[21] It seems that the enhancement of chlorophyll as a result of treatment with organic fertilizers, is related to iron uptake.
The height of single plant
The height is one of the most important physical aspects of spine. The results have been showed that the greatest height of single plant related with chemical fertilizer was 48 cm and the lowest height of single plant related with horse compost 8% was 26.66 cm [Figure 5]. In general, application of the chemical fertilizer to provide faster available nutrients for spine, caused to appear greatest height in spine. These findings corporated the findings provided by Mashner Kaya and Steak, on the other hand, improvement of physical characteristics in the soil is also the most important influencing factor on increasing the height of spine plants under vermin-compost fertilizer treatment rather than control treatment that this result agrees with the results of Kalantari and Edwards who stated that vermin-compost with improvement in seeds set and increased absorption, retention water capability had been an effective role in increasing the yield of spine plant. Peavast had been reported that application of vermin-compost increases significantly the height of spine in compared with the level without application of the vermin-compost.
Dry weight of single plant
The greatest dry weight in vermin-compost mushroom treatment 12% was 80.6 g and lowest dry weight of single plant was related to mushroom-compost + mushroom-vermi compost 12% and mushroom-compost 8% [Figure 6]. It was distributed to some factors such as effective role of mushroom vermin-compost on improvement features of planting bed and improvement growth condition of useful soil microorganisms to provide micronutrient content for growth spine plant. In fact, when vermi compost disintegrated, the minerals (N, P, K, Fe, Mg, and Zn will be absorbed by the roots. [16],[17],[18] It improved physical characteristics of the soil, that increase weight of the spine plant. These findings are agreed with Kheiri's.
Width lamina
Effects of planting beds on width lamina of spine on level 1% were meanful [Table 1]. As shown in [Figure 7], the higher width lamina was recorded for the plants grown on beds such as horse vermin-compost 8%, chemical fertilizer, and mushroom compost 8% [Figure 7]. Peavast at research who did on spine plant under vermin-compost fertilizer treatments (0, 10, 20, and 30%) in a loam sand soil had found that application of vermin-compost increase height of the plant, leaf size, and number of leaf spines when compare with the level without application rather than control treatment. They stated that the any increase of the number and the size of the leafs is referring to increase of N, Ca, P, Mn and Fe in the soil. In addintion vermin compost contain some of the vitamins like B12. [17],[18],[19],[20],[21]
| Conclusion | | |
The production has been relied on chemical fertilizers in order to have higher achievements in recent decades, but they are big obstacles against the permanent production because the high usage of chemical fertilizers decreases the performance of crop plants. This reduction is because of soil acidification, decrease in soil biological activity, fall of soil physical properties, and lack of micronutrients in fertilizers. So, the goal of future agricultural systems is to decrease the use of chemical fertilizers and manage water, soil, biological resources, and environment to reach a desirable and stable production. Vermi-compost has the potential to preserve some food components such as nitrate, transferable phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, and potassium. It also has some biologically active components such as growth regulators and can indirectly affect plant growth by affecting the soil microfloras. Because of all above-mentioned characteristics, this fertilizer is recommended as a complete granularized fertilizer.
Financial support and sponsorship
Nil.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
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[Figure 1], [Figure 2], [Figure 4], [Figure 5], [Figure 6], [Figure 7]
[Table 1], [Figure 3]
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