Abstract
PurposeIn the almond industry, the major by-product is the shell, the woody outer layer of the almond fruits. The goal of this research was to study the consequence of the incorporation of almond shell to cultivation substrates on green bean plant grown in a growth chamber.MethodsAlmond shell was mixed with peat (20%:80%) (AS), or used as mulch (AM) on top of the control (C) substrate (33.3%:66.6% vermiculite and peat). Evaluated parameters included green bean pod production and characteristics and their biochemical parameters, namely pigments, total phenolics and antioxidant activity, and soluble sugars and proteins, but also leaf gas exchange parameters.ResultsThe use of almond shell as a mulch resulted in unexpected higher crop growth rate, relative leaf growth rate, and leaf area index, with similar production and dimension of pods, when compared to the control assay, with comparable amounts of phenolic compounds, antioxidant capacity, and soluble sugars and proteins, even if gas exchange parameters were negatively affected. By other hand, the data from the almond shell:peat mixture indicate important increase of carotenoid content, contrasting to the control substrate.ConclusionThese results indicate that almond shell has some potential as growing medium for green bean cultivation, when mixed with peat or used as a mulch.
Highlights
According to FAO (FAOstat 2016), production of almond [Prunus dulcis (Mill.) D.A
In a previous work by our group, we found some detrimental outcomes of the presence of almond shell in substrates used in green bean cultivation (Oliveira et al 2017), but, at a leaf level, but few is known about its effects on plant and pod characteristics
The procedure of the Folin–Ciocalteu method, modified by Tsao et al (2003) was employed to quantify the phenolic compounds, using the same extracts obtained for the quantification of photosynthetic pigments
Summary
According to FAO (FAOstat 2016), production of almond [Prunus dulcis (Mill.) D.A. Webb] with shell, in 2013, was above 2.9 million tonnes. In a previous work by our group, we found some detrimental outcomes of the presence of almond shell in substrates used in green bean cultivation (Oliveira et al 2017), but, at a leaf level, but few is known about its effects on plant and pod characteristics. The goal of this study was to appraise the possibility of use of almond shell incorporated as substrate or mulch for the growth of green bean in soilless conditions. To perform this evaluation, several parameters were measured, including leaf gas exchange, production, pod characteristics, and biochemical parameters of green bean cultivated on several almond shell-based substrates
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