Bio-stimulants as alternatives to mineral fertilizers: influence on chia (Salvia hispanica L.) growth, yield, and fatty acid composition

One of the main components of sustainable agricultural strategies in crop production is substitution of chemical fertilizers with alternatives. This study aimed to examine the effects of partial replacement of mineral fertilizers with bio-stimulants (yeast and/or moringa leaves extract). Field experiment was conducted during two successive seasons 2018/2019 and 2019/2020. The fertilization treatments were distributed in a factorial design. Treatments included 75%, 50% or 0% NPK combined with yeast, moringa extract, or their combination in comparison with control treatment (100% NPK). The partial substitution of mineral fertilizers with yeast and/or moringa extract had significant impacts on growth, yield and quality components. Decreasing NPK level significant decreased growth and yield components of chia plants, except for 75% NPK combined with yeast and/or moringa. In contrast, decreasing NPK level significantly increased the chemical and quality components of chia. Treating with 75% NPK combined with yeast and/or moringa gave the highest micronutrients and fatty acid content. GC analysis showed definition of nine main components, and the major components were linolenic and linoleic acids. Linolenic acid increased with decreasing NPK, and the highest values obtained with bio-stimulant treatments with zero % NPK. The results of this study recommended that partial substitution of 25% of mineral fertilizers with bio-stimulants (yeast and/or moringa) is the best alternative not only for maintaining the growth and yield component, but also improving the quality of chia plants

Response of Silybum marianum plant to irrigation intervals combined with fertilization

Hendawy SF, Hussein MS, Youssef AA, El-Mergawi RA. 2013. Response of Silybum marianum plant to irrigation intervals combined with fertilization. Nusantara Bioscience 5: 21-28. This study was investigated to evaluate the influence of different kinds of organic and bio fertilization under different irrigation intervals on the growth, production and chemical constituents of Sylibium marianum plant. Data indicated that all studied growth and yield characters were significantly affected by the duration of irrigation intervals. Fertilizer treatments had a primitive effect on growth and yield characters. The interaction between irrigation intervals and fertilizer treatments has a clear considerable effect on growth and yield characters. The obtained results indicated the favorable effect of organic and bio fertilizers which reduce the harmful effect of water stress. Different treatments had a pronounced effect on silymarin content

Acclimatization study of Tagetes lucida L. in Egypt and the chemical characterization of its essential oils

Seeds of Tagetes lucida were imported to Egypt from Canada and propagated under greenhouse conditions in peat moss media. Soil was sandy in texture and the irrigation system was dripping irrigation. The growth parameters were determined at five successive plant ages, fresh and dry weights of herb were determined at three successive plant ages. The yield of aerial parts after 175 days, was about 7.5 Mg/ha. The essential oil (EO) was extracted by hydro-distillation for three hours with a yield of about 0.5% (w/v). The EO of each sample was subjected to gas-chromatography/mass spectrometry analyses to study the chemical composition. The main component of the EO was identified as methyl chavicol which matched over 90% of the whole composition. Chlorophyll a and carotenes increased with increasing plant age in both sites and seasons. Flavonoids decreased with the development of plant age, while the opposite was true with coumarines content

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

Influence of exogenous tryptophan application on production and carotenoids of Calendula officinalis under drip irrigation treatments

Calendula officinalis L. is primarily cultivated as cut flowers plant and also regarded as a medicinal plant with a variety of therapeutic uses. Irrigation management results in reduction in irrigation requirements, water saving and conservation. Tryptophan has a major role in improving plant stress tolerance to environmental stresses such as water deficiency. This study investigated the response of C. officinalis cultivated under drip irrigation system to the number of irrigation times week-1 and tryptophan foliar application in two successive seasons. Three irrigation treatments (once, twice and three times week-1) were used as the main plots and four tryptophan treatments (0, 15, 30 and 45 mg l-1) were applied as subplots with three replicates. Increasing the number of irrigation times from once to twice showed the highest values of investigated growth parameters, while three times a week decreased them to lower values than those of once a week.&nbsp

Response of Camelina sativa Oil to Different Levels of N-P-K and Compost Fertilizers

This study was conducted during the two winter seasons (2018/2019&2019/2020) to investigate the effect of NPK and compost fertilizers on the Camelina sativa plant under Egyptian ecology. The fertilizer levels of NPK were 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100%, recommended doses, whereas compost was applied at 6, 8 and 10 m3/fed to investigate the effect of these fertilizers and the interaction of both chemical and organic fertilizers on the vegetative growth, oil yield and oil components percentage, especially Linolenic acid (ω-3). The obtained results indicated that the application of 100% NPK as well as 10 m3 of compost produced the highest mean values of all vegetative characteristics compared to unfertilized plants at both samples in the two growing seasons and the other treatments. On the other hand, the results showed that all NPK treatments, i.e. 25, 50, 75, and 100% NPK significantly increased seed yield (g/plant) as compared to control, the mean values were 3.06, 4.70, 9.09 and 10.20 g/plant compared to 1.84 g/plant, respectively, for the 1st season and 3.11, 4.48, 9.27 & 10.27 g/plant comparing to 1.80 of control for the 2nd season. Compost treatments significantly increased the seed yield; the mean values were 5.10, 5.72, 5.88 and 6.42 g/plant in the 1st season and 5.09, 5.73, 5.99 and 6.32 g/plant in the 2nd season for fertilization with 0, 6, 8 and 10 m3/Fed., respectively. The maximum mean values were obtained by compost at 10 m3/fed. The interaction treatment between 100% NPK and 10 m3/fed showed the maximum mean value of seed yield which recorded 10.51 and 10.78 g/plant for the 1st and 2nd seasons, respectively. In contrast, the lowest values of seed yield were obtained from unfertilized plant which recorded 1.09 and 1.04 g/plant for the 1st and 2nd seasons, respectively. The promising effect of NPK fertilizer on fixed oil % and yield was evident with NPK 100%, 52.53% and 52.83% fixed oil, whereas yield was 408.63 and 413.68 l/fed.), followed by 75% NPK which produced fixed oil percentage and yield 46.82, 46.77% as well as 207.29 and 208.06 l/fed for the first and second season, respectively, compared with other treatments and control. The highest fixed oil percentages and yield (l/fed) were recorded with NPK at 100% and compost at 10 m3/fed during both seasons

Response of Two Species of Black Cumin to Foliar Spray Treatments

Abstract: Field experiment was carried out to investigate the effect of fertilizer foliar spray treatments on the growth, fixed oil and fatty acids contents of Nigella sativa and Nigella damascena plants. Foliar spray, black cumin species and their interactions had a significant effects on the growth characters, fixed oil and fatty acids contents of both Nigella sativa and Nigella damascena

Yield and qualitative characterisation of seeds of Amaranthus hypochondriacus L. and Amaranthus cruentus L. grown in central Italy

Amaranth can be considered a very interesting crop for the Mediterranean region, thanks to its inherent tolerance to disadvantageous growing conditions, along with the high nutritional and nutraceutical value of its seeds. The study aims to evaluate the seed yield, and the oil content and quality of two amaranth genotypes (species Amaranthus hypochondriacus L. and Amaranthus cruentus L., respectively) grown in central Italy, testing two types of soil (loamy and sandy soil). The two species showed a good performance in the tested environment, with satisfactory seed yield and relative short growth cycle. Significant differences between the two genotypes were observed in terms of seed yield. The crude oil content ranged from 7.5% to 6.0%, with linoleic, palmitic and oleic acids as the major fatty acids of the oil in both genotypes. The unsaponifiable fraction was rich in sterols (campesterol, stigmasterol and β- sitosterol), and interesting levels of squalene were found. This study demonstrated the unique nutraceutical properties of the seeds of two genotypes of A. hypochondriacus and A. cruentus, grown in central Italy environment, as a source of polyunsaturated fatty acid and squalene. These characteristics make amaranth a valuable alternative crop for specialty oil production in the Mediterranean region

Acclimatization study of <i>Tagetes lucida</i> L. in Egypt and the chemical characterization of its essential oils

<p>Seeds of <i>Tagetes lucida</i> were imported to Egypt from Canada and propagated under greenhouse conditions in peat moss media. Soil was sandy in texture and the irrigation system was dripping irrigation. The growth parameters were determined at five successive plant ages, fresh and dry weights of herb were determined at three successive plant ages. The yield of aerial parts after 175 days, was about 7.5 Mg/ha. The essential oil (EO) was extracted by hydro-distillation for three hours with a yield of about 0.5% (w/v). The EO of each sample was subjected to gas-chromatography/mass spectrometry analyses to study the chemical composition. The main component of the EO was identified as methyl chavicol which matched over 90% of the whole composition. Chlorophyll a and carotenes increased with increasing plant age in both sites and seasons. Flavonoids decreased with the development of plant age, while the opposite was true with coumarines content.</p