Abstract
Nigella sativa L. is a medicinal plant with extensive, nutritional, pharmaceutical, and health applications. Nowadays, reducing the application of chemical fertilizers (synthetic fertilizers) is one of the main goals of sustainable agriculture to allow the production of safe crops. Therefore, the combined effect of urea and biofertilizers was studied on the quantitative and qualitative traits of N. sativa L. in a randomized complete block design with 10 treatments and three replications. The treatments included control (no fertilization), U (100% chemical fertilizer as urea at 53.3 kg ha−1, Nb (Biofertilizer, Azotobacter vinelandii), Pb (Biofertilizer, Pantoea agglomerans and Pseudomonas putida), Kb (Biofertilizer, Bacillus spp.), NPKb (NPK, biofertilizer), Nb + 50% U, Pb + 50% U, Kb + 50%U and NPKb + 50% U. The NPK(b) + U50% was related to the highest quantity of plant height, branch diameter, capsule (follicle) number per plant, auxiliary branches, seed yield per plant, thousand-seed weight, essential oil content, total phenolic compounds, flavonoid content, DPPH free radical scavenging, nitric oxide (NO) radical scavenging, superoxide radical scavenging, chain-breaking activity, phosphorus content, and potassium content, along with U for the highest biological yield and (Pb) + U50% for the highest essential oil percentage which is close to (NPKb) + U50%. The lowest value was observed in all traits related to the control treatment except for branch diameter that was related to (NPKb). Hence, the application of (NPKb) + U50% as bio-chemical fertilizers improved N. sativa L. Traits, so it can be recommended.
Highlights
Nigella sativa L. is a medicinal plant with extensive, nutritional, pharmaceutical, and health applications
Nigella sativa L. is an annual plant belonging to the Ranunculaceae family that grows to the height of 60–70 cm
The plants inoculated with (NPKb) + U50% and U exhibited 9.71% and 9.01% higher branch diameter than the plants treated with (NPKb), respectively
Summary
Nigella sativa L. is a medicinal plant with extensive, nutritional, pharmaceutical, and health applications. The biofertilizer Azotobarvar-1 (containing nitrogen-fixing bacteria from the genus Azotobacter) is a voluntary molecular nitrogen fixer that is capable of synthesizing biologically active compounds in the root zone including nicotinic acid, pantothenic acid, biotin, vitamin B, auxins, and g ibberellins[10]. These compounds are involved in root system development and influence crop yields and soil characteristics by improving water and nutrient uptake and nitrogen (N) biofixation. Biofertilizers, e.g., Azotobacter, can improve seed vigor and stimulate the plant defense system as secondary metabolites[15]
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