Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The utilization of tryptophan and glycine amino acids as safe alternatives to chemical fertilizers in apple orchards

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Environmental Science and Pollution Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Our experiment was conducted during the seasons of 2018 and 2019 on 10-year-old “Anna” apple trees (Malus domestica L. Borkh) planted at 4 × 4 m apart in a clay soil under drench irrigation. Sixty uniform trees were selected and subjected to the same cultural practices during both seasons. Apple trees were sprayed three times as follows: before flowering, during full bloom, and 1 month later with the following treatments: control (water only); tryptophan at 25, 50, and 100 ppm; glycine at 25, 50, and 100 ppm; and their combinations, 25 ppm tryptophan + 25 ppm glycine, 50 ppm tryptophan + 50 ppm glycine, and 100 ppm tryptophan + 100 ppm glycine. The results demonstrated that the foliar spraying of “Anna” apple trees with glycine and tryptophan at 25, 50, and 100 ppm and their combinations significantly increased shoot length and diameter, leaf area, total chlorophyll, percentages of fruit set and yield, fruit physical and chemical characteristics, and leaf mineral composition of N, P, K, Ca, Fe, Zn, Mn, and B, whereas it reduced the fruit drop percentage in both seasons in comparison with control. Better results were obtained from the concentrations of 50 and 100 ppm which were more effective in both seasons in comparison with the concentration of 25 ppm. Moreover, the combination of 50 ppm glycine 50 ppm tryptophan was the best treatment and provided the highest results in both experimental seasons in comparison with the other applied treatments and control.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

The data used to support the findings of this study are included within the article and the coding of the data is available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

References

  • Abbas SH, Sohail M, Saleem M, Mahmood T, Aziz I, Qamar M, Majeed A, Arif M (2013) Effect of L-tryptophan on plant weight and pod weight in chickpea under rainfed conditions. Sci Technol Dev 32:277–280

    Google Scholar 

  • Abd El-wahed M, El-Awadi M, Salama D, Haggag W (2016) Application of nitrogen, tryptophan and their relation on growth, yield and some chemical constituents in green onion. J Chem Pharm Res 8:694–701

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Abdelsalam NR, Ali HM, Salem MZ, Ibrahem EG, Elshikh MS (2018) Genetic and morphological characterization of Mangifera indica L. growing in Egypt. HortScience 53:1266–1270

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ahmed A, Khalil M, Abd El-Rahman A, Nadia AH (2012) Effect of zinc, tryptophan and indole acetic acid on growth, yield and chemical composition of Valencia orange trees. J Appl Sci Res 901–914

  • Ahmed FK, Hamed NA, Magdy A, ELazazy AM (2017) Effect of tryptophan and some nutrient elements foliar application on yield and fruit quality of Washington Navel orange. J Hortic Sci Ornamental Plants 9:86–97

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Amin A, Awadi M, Dawood M, Gharib F, Hassan E (2014) Kinetin and tryptophan enhance yield and production efficiency of lupine ( Lupinus termis L.) plants. World Rural Observations 6:50–56

    Google Scholar 

  • Bahari A, Pirdashti H, Yaghubi M (2013) The effects of amino acid fertilizers spraying on photosynthetic pigments and antioxidant enzymes of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under salinity stress. Int J Agron Plant Prod 4:787–793

    Google Scholar 

  • Basanth N, Mahesh G (2018) Bioefficacy of Nova Nutri Boost for yield and yield components in paddy (Oryza sativa L.). Int J Curr Microbiol App Sci 7:2250–2253

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bashir A, Rizwan M, Ali S, ur Rehman MZ, Ishaque W, Riaz MA, Maqbool A (2018) Effect of foliar-applied iron complexed with lysine on growth and cadmium (Cd) uptake in rice under Cd stress. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25:20691–20699

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bingham FT (1983) Boron. Methods of soil analysis: part 2. Chem Microbiol Properties 9:431–447

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapman H, Pratt P (1961) Methods of analysis for soils. Plants Waters:169–176

  • Chuntanaparb N, Cummings G (1980) Seasonal trends in concentration of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, and magnesium in leaf portions of apple, blueberry, grape, and peach. J Am Soc Hortic Sci 105:933–935

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Colla G, Cardarelli M, Bonini P, Rouphael Y (2017) Foliar applications of protein hydrolysate, plant and seaweed extracts increase yield but differentially modulate fruit quality of greenhouse tomato. HortScience 52:1214–1220

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cottenie A, Verlo L (1982) Kjekens and Camerlynch, R.(1982): Chemical analysis of plant and soil. Laboratory of Analytical Agrochemistry. State Univ. Gent, Belgium, pp 280–284

    Google Scholar 

  • El Sayed OM, El Gammal O, Salama A (2014) Effect of proline and tryptophan amino acids on yield and fruit quality of Manfalouty pomegranate variety. Sci Hortic 169:1–5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elkhatib HA, Gabr SM, Roshdy AH, Kasi RS (2020) Effects of different nitrogen fertilization rates and foliar application of humic acid, fulvic acid and tryptophan on growth, productivity and chemical composition of common bean plants (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). Alexandria Sci Exch J 41:191–204

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fahimi F, Souri M, Yaghobi F (2016) Growth and development of greenhouse cucumber under foliar application of Biomin and Humifolin fertilizers in comparison to their soil application and NPK. J Sci Technol Greenh Cult 7

  • FAO I, UNICEF (2018) WFP and WHO (2017) The state of food security and nutrition in the world 2017: building resilience for peace and food security. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome

    Google Scholar 

  • Fawzy Z, El-Shal Z, Li Y, Zhu O, Sawan OM (2012) Response of garlic (Allium sativum, L.) plants to foliar spraying of some bio-stimulants under sandy soil condition. J Appl Sci Res 770–776

  • Ghasemi S, Khoshgoftarmanesh AH, Hadadzadeh H, Afyuni M (2013) Synthesis, characterization, and theoretical and experimental investigations of zinc (II)–amino acid complexes as ecofriendly plant growth promoters and highly bioavailable sources of zinc. J Plant Growth Regul 32:315–323

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hancı F, Tuncer G (2020) How do foliar application of melatonin and L-tryptophan affect lettuce growth parameters under salt stress? Turk J Agric Food Sci Technol 8:960–964

    Google Scholar 

  • Hussain A, Ali S, Rizwan M, ur Rehman MZ, Hameed A, Hafeez F, Alamri SA, Alyemeni MN, Wijaya L (2018) Role of zinc–lysine on growth and chromium uptake in rice plants under Cr stress. J Plant Growth Regul 37:1413–1422

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kazem Souri M, Sooraki FY, Moghadamyar M (2017) Growth and quality of cucumber, tomato, and green bean under foliar and soil applications of an aminochelate fertilizer. Hortic Environ Biotechnol 58:530–536

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khan S, Yu H, Li Q, Gao Y, Sallam BN, Wang H, Liu P, Jiang W (2019) Exogenous application of amino acids improves the growth and yield of lettuce by enhancing photosynthetic assimilation and nutrient availability. Agronomy 9:266

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Khedr E (2018) Improving productivity, quality and antioxidant capacity of Le-Conte pear fruits using foliar tryptophan, arginine and salicylic applications. Egypt J Hortic 45:93–103

    Google Scholar 

  • Malik C, Singh M (1980) Extraction and estimation of amino acids and keto acids. In: Plant Enzymology and Histo-Enzymology. Kalyani Publishers, New Delhi, p 286

    Google Scholar 

  • Mataffo A, Scognamiglio P, Dente A, Strollo D, Colla G, Rouphael Y, Basile B (2020) Foliar application of an amino acid-enriched urea fertilizer on ‘Greco’grapevines at full veraison increases berry yeast-assimilable nitrogen content. Plants 9:619

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Matysiak K, Kierzek R, Siatkowski I, Kowalska J, Krawczyk R (2020) Effect of exogenous application of amino acids L-arginine and glycine on maize under temperature stress. Agronomy 10:769

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mohammadipour N, Souri MK (2019a): Effects of different levels of glycine in the nutrient solution on the growth, nutrient composition, and antioxidant activity of coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.). Acta Agrobotanica 72

  • Mohammadipour N, Souri MK (2019b) Beneficial effects of glycine on growth and leaf nutrient concentrations of coriander (Coriandrum sativum) plants. J Plant Nutr 42:1637–1644

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mustafa A, Hussain A, Naveed M, Ditta A, Nazli Z-e-H, Sattar A (2016) Response of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.) to soil and foliar applied L-tryptophan. Soil Environ 35

  • Noroozlo YA, Souri MK, Delshad M (2019) Stimulation effects of foliar applied glycine and glutamine amino acids on lettuce growth. Open Agric 4:164–172

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pranckietienė I, Mažuolytė-Miškinė E, Pranckietis V, Dromantienė R, Šidlauskas G, Vaisvalavicius R (2015) The effect of amino acids on nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium changes in spring barley under the conditions of water deficit. Zemdirbyste-Agriculture 102:265–272

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rabino L (1977) Alberto and MK Monrad (1977). Photocontrol of synthesis. J Plant Physiol 59:569–573

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Radkowski A, Radkowska I, Godyn D (2018) Effects of fertilization with an amino acid preparation on the dry matter yield and chemical composition of meadow plants. J Elem 23

  • Resio ANC, Aguerre RJ, Suarez C (2005) Analysis of simultaneous water absorption and water–starch reaction during soaking of amaranth grain. J Food Eng 68:265–270

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rizwan M, Ali S, Hussain A, Ali Q, Shakoor MB, Zia-ur-Rehman M, Farid M, Asma M (2017) Effect of zinc-lysine on growth, yield and cadmium uptake in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and health risk assessment. Chemosphere 187:35–42

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Romero I, Téllez J, Yamanaka LE, Steindel M, Romanha AJ, Grisard EC (2014) Transsulfuration is an active pathway for cysteine biosynthesis in Trypanosoma rangeli. Parasit Vectors 7:1–11

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rouphael Y, Colla G, Giordano M, El-Nakhel C, Kyriacou MC, De Pascale S (2017) Foliar applications of a legume-derived protein hydrolysate elicit dose-dependent increases of growth, leaf mineral composition, yield and fruit quality in two greenhouse tomato cultivars. Sci Hortic 226:353–360

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sharma L (2016) Effect of nutrients sprays on growth, yield and fruit quality of apple under cold desert condition of Himachal Pradesh. J Appl Nat Sci 8:297–300

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sheng Y, Cheng H, Wang L, Shen J, Tang M, Liang M, Zhang K, Zhang H, Kong Q, Yu M (2020) Foliar spraying with compound amino acid-iron fertilizer increases leaf fresh weight, photosynthesis, and Fe-S cluster gene expression in peach (Prunus persica (L.) Batsch). BioMed Res Int 2020

  • Snedecor GW, Cochran WG (1980) Statistical methods. 7th edn. Iowa State University USA, pp 80–86

  • Souri MK, Hatamian M (2019) Aminochelates in plant nutrition: a review. J Plant Nutr 42:67–78

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Souri MK, Naiji M, Aslani M (2018) Effect of Fe-glycine aminochelate on pod quality and iron concentrations of bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) under lime soil conditions. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 49:215–224

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Talaat IM, Khattab HI, Ahmed AM (2014) Changes in growth, hormones levels and essential oil content of Ammi visnaga L. plants treated with some bioregulators. Saudi J Biol Sci 21:355–365

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Teixeira WF, Fagan EB, Soares LH, Umburanas RC, Reichardt K, Neto DD (2017) Foliar and seed application of amino acids affects the antioxidant metabolism of the soybean crop. Front Plant Sci 8:327

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weiland M, Mancuso S, Baluska F (2016) Signalling via glutamate and GLRs in Arabidopsis thaliana. Funct Plant Biol 43:1–25

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Westwood MN (1988) Temperate-zone pomology. Timber press

  • Wilde S, Corey R, Lyer I, Voigt G (1985) Soil and plant analysis for tree culture, 3rd edn. Oxford & IBH publishing Co, New Delhi, pp 1–218

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the Researchers Supporting Project number RSP-2020/123, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Funding

This research was funded by King Saud University, Researchers Supporting Project number RSP-2020/123, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plant Production Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Saba Basha, Alexandria University, Alexandria, 21531, Egypt

    Walid F. A. Mosa

  2. Botany and Microbiology Department, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia

    Hayssam M. Ali

  3. Timber Trees Research Department, Sabahia Horticulture Research Station, Horticulture Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Alexandria, 21526, Egypt

    Hayssam M. Ali

  4. Agricultural Botany Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Saba Basha, Alexandria University, Alexandria, 21531, Egypt

    Nader R. Abdelsalam

Authors
  1. Walid F. A. Mosa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Hayssam M. Ali
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Nader R. Abdelsalam
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

The authors contributed to the present study as follows: data curation: Walid F.A. Mosa; formal analysis: Nader R. Abdelsalam; funding acquisition: Hayssam M. Ali; investigation: Walid F.A. Mosa; resources: Walid F.A. Mosa and Nader R. Abdelsalam; software: Hayssam M. Ali; visualization: Walid F.A. Mosa; writing—original draft: Walid F.A. Mosa and Nader R. Abdelsalam; writing—review and editing: Hayssam M. Ali and Ibrahim A. Alaraidh Nader R. Abdelsalam.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Walid F. A. Mosa or Nader R. Abdelsalam.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

This current study does not include any animals. “Not applicable.”

Consent for publication

All the authors agreeing for Consent for publication and current article does not contain data from any individual person

Additional information

Responsible Editor: Philippe Garrigues

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Mosa, W.F.A., Ali, H.M. & Abdelsalam, N.R. The utilization of tryptophan and glycine amino acids as safe alternatives to chemical fertilizers in apple orchards. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 1983–1991 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-10658-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-10658-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation