Abstract
Some natural polysaccharides and their derivatives are used in horticulture to stimulate plant growth. This study investigated the effects of coating bulbs with carrageenan-depolymerized chitosan (C-DCh) or xanthan-depolymerized chitosan (X-DCh) on growth, flowering, and bulb yield as well as physiological and biochemical attributes of pineapple lily (Eucomis autumnalis). The results showed that treatment with C-DCh or X-DCh significantly increased all growth parameters, bulb yield, greenness index, stomatal conductance, total N, total K, and total sugar content of bulbs and accelerated anthesis as compared with untreated bulbs. The positive impact of coatings on plant growth and physiological attributes depended on the type of biopolymer complexes. The X-DCh treatment exhibited the greatest plant height, fresh weight, daughter bulb number, greenness index, stomatal conductance, total N, K, and sugar content. However, this treatment induced a significant decrease in L-ascorbic acid, total polyphenol content and antioxidant activity. Overall, the results of this study indicated high suitability of C-DCh and X-DCh as bulb coatings for pineapple lily plant production.
Highlights
The uniform bulbs were coated according to the technology described by Startek et al [29] in hydrogels based on 1% (w/v) carrageenan or 1% (w/v) xanthan gum in which bulbs were dipped for 30 s, and 0.2% (w/v) depolymerized chitosan in which the bulbs were soaked for 10 min
We reported a considerable improvement in plant growth, as assessed by morphological and physiological parameters and nutrient content in E. autumnalis when the bulbs were coated with oligochitosan and sodium alginate, and in Ornithogalum saundersiae Baker when the bulbs were coated with chitooligosaccharide and sodium alginate, carrageenan, gellan gum, or xanthan gum [28,49]
The biostimulant complexes carrageenan-depolymerized chitosan (C-DCh) and xanthandepolymerized chitosan (X-DCh) used for bulb coating improved plant productivity, allowing growers to speed up the production cycle in protected culture and to obtain higher quality flowers and bulbs of pineapple lily
Summary
The uniform bulbs were coated according to the technology described by Startek et al [29] in hydrogels based on 1% (w/v) carrageenan or 1% (w/v) xanthan gum in which bulbs were dipped for 30 s, and 0.2% (w/v) depolymerized chitosan in which the bulbs were soaked for 10 min. Control bulbs were soaked in distilled water. Depolymerized chitosan obtained by controlled free radical degradation [28] had a molecular weight of 154, 500 g mol−1 , the number-average molecular weight of 22,800 g mol−1 , and deacetylation degree of 85%. Carrageenan-depolymerized chitosan (C-DCh) and xanthan-depolymerized chitosan (X-DCh) were produced. Iota-carrageenan and xanthan gum were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich. Each treatment was replicated four times and each replicate had 10 bulbs
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