Peatland plants growth performance of valorized oil palm microfibers infiltrated in chitosan/NPK and chitosan/PMAA/NPK composite

Abstract

Oil palm biomass and chitosan are abundantly wasted in Indonesia without being valorized optimally for specific purposes. The biomass can be used as a precursor for acquiring microfibers and composite films useful for plants' growth media. In this study, four different types of oil palm microfibers, comprising activated carbon (AC), non-activated carbon (nAC), lignocellulose (LC), and crystalline cellulose (CC), were utilized as a filler for chitosan and chitosan/PMAA membranes of plants growth media Different composite and nanocomposite films showed different results in the tested parameters of paddy and jelutong plants. Nanochitosan/NPK/PMAA/AC 1 % and chitosan/NPK/AC 5 % gave the highest score for paddy germination percentage (100 % and 95 % at 5 days, respectively) and seedling survival (80 % and 90 %, respectively), whereas chitosan/NPK/CC and chitosan/NPK/PMAA/LC composites at all concentrations had the highest germination percentage at 21 days (97,92 %) but only chitosan/NPK/CC at all concentrations had the highest seedling survival rate (100 %). Highest attack of fungi was only found in paddy grown in chitosan composites reinforced with cellulose (0–50 %) and lignocellulose (5–35 %). Jelutung had the highest maximum growth potential in chitosan/NPK/PMMA/LC (97.92 %) and chitosan/NPK/LC (97.92 %) whereas paddy had that highest value in chitosan/NPK/nAC (100 %) and nanochitosan/NPK/PMAA/AC (100 %). Paddy germination time ranged from 1.1 to 1.5 days for all chitosan or nano chitosan-based media whereas jelutong germination time was between 9.62 and 13.13 days for all samples. The study also confirmed that there were varied total numbers of secondary roots for paddy (4.67–6.25) and jelutong (10.80–14.00). Both chitosan composite and chitosan nanocomposite filled with microfibres could be utilized as growth media and slow-release nutrient agents for growing paddy and jelutong in peatland, subsequently beneficial for the peatland restoration in Indonesia.