Can foliar application of zinc increased growth, physiology, and yield in snap beans?

Abstract

This study aimed to verify the effects of leaf application of zinc (Zn) on the growth, physiology, yield, and biofortification of snap beans. The experiment was carried out in a greenhouse, in a completely randomized design, with five doses of zinc (0, 100, 200, 300, and 400 mg L−1). The leaf application of zinc was carried out at the vegetative stage V3 (third leaves). Biometric, physiological, and yield evaluations occurred at stages R5 (flowering) and R8 (harvest). The chlorophyll of plants with zinc is 36% higher with the application of 400 mg L−1 in R8. Foliar fertilization reduced the transpiration around 41%; and it increased the temperature and photosynthetic rate at 5.2% and 16.2%, respectively. The zinc concentration increases up resulted in an increase of 85 and 942% of zinc accumulation in the snap bean plant at the R5 stage. The 100 mg L−1 dose increased crop yield by 8.4% compared to the control treatment. Higher doses can reduce productivity by up to 17% when 400 mg L−1 of Zn is applied. Foliar application of zinc is efficient in promoting an increase in the concentration and accumulation of Zn in the leaves in the stage R5, but at the harvest stage there is no influence of fertilization on the levels and accumulations of zinc in the plant.