Abstract
The domestication of wild-growing plants, including cultivation and fertilization protocols, is able to alleviate the ecological risks posed by the uncontrolled harvesting of range-restricted local endemic plants. In this field study focused on Verbascum arcturus, a vulnerable local endemic of Crete (Greece), the effect of two kinds of fertilization applied by two methods (foliar/root) was investigated. The foliar application included conventional or integrated nutrient management (INM) fertilization. Root application included the application of conventional fertilizers, biostimulants, or INM with biostimulants. Several properties of plant growth, physiology and nutrition were determined. The results showed that fertilization treatment affected neither leaf color and shape nor plant growth, morphology, dry mass partitioning or nutrient content. However, both kinds of foliar-applied fertilization enhanced Zn and B in leaves and soil-applied biostimulant increased leaf Ca. Considering both chlorophyll and antioxidant compounds’ content, foliar application of the INM fertilizers, as well as soil application of the conventional fertilizers or biostimulants, could be considered as accepted options. This study reports for the first time an assessment of the total phenolic and flavonoids content evidenced in V. arcturus and encourages the use of fertilization in promoting the herbal antioxidant profile without compromising visual quality or yield. The findings of this study could be considered as a documented contribution toward the sustainable exploitation of V. arcturus.
Highlights
IntroductionLittle attention is paid to this by the denizens, a considerable portion of the herbal material still originates from wild plants, affecting their wild-growing populations [3]
The only exception to this trend was the significantly higher SPAD value in the leaves of vegetative-stage plants fertilized through the root, as compared to control plants and plants fertilized through a foliar application (Figure 2A)
This study focused on Verbascum arcturus, a potentially ornamental and medicinal wild-growing plant that is exclusively confined to the island of Crete, Greece
Summary
Little attention is paid to this by the denizens, a considerable portion of the herbal material still originates from wild plants, affecting their wild-growing populations [3]. As a widely unrecognized commodity, communities do not safeguard whether wild-growing populations decline or remain stable, for instance, and whether an adequate time for natural reproduction and growth is allowed between harvests from the wild. This poses considerable ecological risks for specific range-restricted species, in particular, and for the whole habitat in which they thrive, in general [3]
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