Abstract
Experiments were conducted on tomato to study the potential of brown alga Sargassum johnstonii as a biofertilizer. Seaweed extract was applied as a foliar spray, soil drench, and soil drench + foliar spray to assess its effect on plant growth, yield, and concentration of lycopene and vitamin C. The main objective of the study was to enhance the biochemical constituents with neutraceutical and antioxidant values in tomato fruit. Different concentrations (0.1%, 0.4%, 0.8%, 2%, 6%, 8%, and 10%; v/v) of seaweed extract were used and growth was observed over a period of 7 months. A total of 14 sprays/drenches were applied at 15-day intervals during the entire vegetative and reproductive phase. A statistically significant increase in vegetative growth (plant height, shoot length, root length, and number of branches), reproductive parameters (flower number, fruit number, and fresh weight), and biochemical constituents (photosynthetic pigments, proteins, total soluble sugars, reducing sugars, starch, phenols, lycopene, and vitamin C) was recorded following all three methods of treatment at higher concentrations of seaweed extract. The study also reports auxin- and cytokinin-like activity, and the presence of macro- (Ca, Mg, Na, and K) and micronutrients (Fe, Cu, Zn, and Mn), in seaweed extract of S. johnstonii, which makes it a potential biofertilizer.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allen SE (1989) Chemical analysis of ecological materials, 2nd edn. Blackwell, London
Anantharaj M, Venkatesalu V (2001) Effect of seaweed liquid fertilizer on Vigna catajung. Seaweed Res Utiln 23:33–39
Arnon DI (1949) Copper enzymes in isolated chloroplasts. Polyphenoloxidase in Beta vulgaris. Plant Physiol 24:1–15
Ashok V, Vijayanand N, Rathinavel S (2004) Bio-fertilizing efficiency of seaweed liquid extract of Hydroclathrus clathratus on Sorghum vulgare. Seaweed Res Utiln 26:181–186
Bradford MM (1976) A rapid and sensitive method for the quantification of microgram quantities of protein using the principle of protein dye binding. Anal Biochem 72:248–259
Blunden G, Jenkins T, Liu YW (1997) Enhanced leaf chlorophyll levels in plants treated with seaweed extract. J Appl Phycol 8:535–543
Choudhary R, Bowser TJ, Weckler P, Maness NO, McGlynn W (2009) Rapid estimation of lycopene concentration in watermelon and tomato puree by fiber optic visible reflectance spectroscopy. Postharvest Biol Technol 52:103–109
Crouch IJ, van Staden J (1991) Evidence for rooting factors in a seaweed concentrate prepared from Ecklonia maxima. Plant Physiol 137:319–322
Crouch IJ, van Staden J (1992) Identification of auxins in a commercial seaweed concentrate. Plant Physiol 139:590–594
Dhargalkar VK, Pereira N (2005) Seaweed: promising plant of the millennium. Sci Cult 71:60–66
Dorais M, Ehret DL, Papadopoulos AP (2008) Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) health components: from the seed to the consumer. Phytochem Rev 7:231–250
FAO (2005) Web site database. http://www.fao.org
Fish WW, Perkins-Veazie P, Collins JK (2002) A quantitative assay for lycopene that utilizes reduced volumes of organic solvents. J Food Comp Anal 15:309–317
Fletcher RA, Kallidumbil V, Steele P (1982) An improved bioassay for cytokinins using cucumber cotyledons. Plant Physiol 69:675–677
Fornes F, Sanchez-Perales M, Guadiola JL (2002) Effect of a seaweed extract on the productivity of ‘de Nules’ clementine mandarin and navelina orange. Bot Mar 45:486–489
Hadley CW, Miller EC, Schwartz SJ, Clinton SK (2002) Tomatoes, lycopene and prostate cancer: progress and promise. Exp Biol Med 227:869–880
Hahn H, de Zacks R, Kende H (1974) Cytokinins formation in pea seeds. Naturwissenschaften 61:170–171
Hassid WX, Neufeld EF (1964) Quantitative determination of starch in plant tissues. In: Whistler RL (ed) Methods in carbohydrate chemistry. IV. Starch. Academic, New York, pp 33–36
Hess CE (1964) The mung bean bioassay for the detection of root promotory substances. Plant Physiol 36:21
Hiscox JD, Israelstam GF (1979) A method for the extraction of chlorophyll from leaf tissue without maceration. Can J Bot 57:1332–1334
Karthikeyan A, Nagasathya A, Shanthi V, Priya E (2008) Hypersaline Cyanobacterium: a potential biofertilizer for Vigna mungo. L (Black Gram). Am Eurasian J Sustain Agric 2:87–91
Kramer SB, Reganold JP, Glover JD, Bohannan BJM, Mooney HA (2006) Reduced nitrate leaching and enhanced denitrifier activity and efficiency in organically fertilized soils. PNAS 103:4522–4527
Lingakumar K, Jeyaprakash R, Manimuthu C, Haribaskar A (2004) Influence of Sargassum sp crude extract on vegetative growth and biochemical characteristics in Zea mays and Phaseolus mungo. Seaweed Res Utiln 26:155–160
Malick CP, Singh MB (1980) Plant enzymology and histoenzymology. Kalyani, New Delhi
Miller GL (1959) Use of dinitrosalicylic acid reagent for determination of reducing sugars. Anal Chem 31:426–428
Mok MC (1994) Cytokinins and plant development: an overview. In: Mok DWS, Mok MC (eds) Cytokinins: chemistry, activity, and function. CRC, Boca Raton, pp 155–166
Mahfouz SA, Sharaf-Eldin MA (2007) Effect of mineral vs biofertilizer on growth, yield and essential oil content of fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.). Int Agrophysics 21:361–366
Pavia H, Toth GB (2000) Inducible chemical resistance to herbivory in the brown seaweed Ascophyllum nodosum. Ecology 81:3212–3225
Peng Y, Zhang Y, Ye J (2008) Determination of phenolic compounds and ascorbic acid in different fractions of tomato by capillary electrophoresis with electrochemical detection. J Agric Food Chem 56:1838–1844
Pereira N, Verlecar XN (2005) Role of marine algae in organic farming. Curr Sci 89:593–594
Rathore SS, Chaudhary DR, Boricha GN, Ghosh A, Bhatt BP, Zodape ST, Patolia JS (2009) Effect of seaweed extract on the growth, yield and nutrient uptake of soybean (Glycine max) under rainfed conditions. S Afr J Bot 75:351–355
Shi J, Le Maguer M (2000) Lycopene in tomatoes: chemical and physical properties affected by food processing. Crit Rev Biotechnol 20:293–334
Sivasankari S, Venkatesalu V, Anantharaj M, Chandrasekaran M (2006) Effect of seaweed extracts on the growth and biochemical constituents of Vigna sinensis. Bioresour Technol 97:1745–1751
Stirk WA, van Staden J (1997) Comparison of cytokinin- and auxin-like activity in some commercially used seaweed extracts. J Appl Phycol 8:503–508
Stirk WA, Arthur GD, Lourens AF, Novak O, Strnad M, van Staden J (2004) Changes in cytokinin and auxin concentrations in seaweed concentrates when stored at an elevated temperature. J Appl Phycol 16:31–39
Thimmaiah SK (1999) Standard method of biochemical analysis. Kalyani, New Delhi
Thirumaran G, Arumugam M, Arumugam R, Anantharaman P (2009) Effect of seaweed liquid fertilizer on growth and pigment concentration of Abelmoschus esculentus (I) medikus. Am Eurasian J Agron 2:57–66
Tseng CK (1993) Notes on mariculture in China. Aquaculture 111:21–30
Vijayaraghavan MK, Kaur I (1991) Ultrastructure and histochemistry of vegetative thallus in Sargssum vulgare C. Agardh and S. johnstonii Setchell & Gardner. Proc Indian Natl Sci Acad B Biol Sci 57:319–328
Whapham CA, Blunden G, Jenkins T, Hankins SD (1993) Significance of betaines in the increased chlorophyll content of plants treated with seaweed extracts. J Appl Phycol 5:231–234
Wu YT, Lin CH (2000) Analysis of cytokinin activity in commercial aqueous seaweed extract. Gartenbauwissenschaft 65:170–173
Yemm EW, Willis AJ (1954) The estimation of carbohydrates in plant extracts by anthrone. Biochem J 57:508–514
Zodape ST, Mukhopadhyay S, Eswaran K, Reddy MP, Chikara J (2010) Enhanced yield and nutritional quality in green gram (Phaseolus radiata L.) treated with seaweed (Kappaphycus alvarezii) extract. J Sci Ind Res 69:468–471
Acknowledgements
Reeta Kumari is thankful to the University Grants Commission, New Delhi (India) for the Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship award for 2008–2009. Inderdeep Kaur gratefully acknowledges the financial support provided by the Department of Science and Technology under their Women Scientist Scheme (WOS-A). We also thank Dr P.V. Subha Rao, Scientist, Central Salt and Marine Chemical Research Institute, Bhavnagar, Gujarat (India) for his help in collection of seaweed material from the Port Okha, Gujarat. We thank Dr. Rupam Kapoor, Associate Professor, Department of Botany, University of Delhi for her comments on the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Electronic supplementary materials
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kumari, R., Kaur, I. & Bhatnagar, A.K. Effect of aqueous extract of Sargassum johnstonii Setchell & Gardner on growth, yield and quality of Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.. J Appl Phycol 23, 623–633 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-011-9651-x
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-011-9651-x