Cress Plants Research Articles

The effect of biochar obtained from waste filter coffee grounds on plant germination

Nowadays, coffee consumption is quite high, and the consumption of filter coffee is steadily increasing. Consequently, there is a significant increase in waste filter coffee. This study aims to evaluate waste filter coffee grounds using a zero-waste approach. In this context, the solid product of pyrolyzed waste filter coffee grounds was added to the soil in specific ratios to improve soil quality and increase yield. The effects on the root and stem development of arugula (Eruca vesicaria) and garden cress (Lepidium sativum) plants were investigated. Waste filter coffee grounds was homogeneously mixed with soil at application rates of 1, 2, and 4 tons/ha. The results of the study observed that the pyrolysis solid product positively affected plant growth. Comparing the data, the highest yield in plants was observed in soil with added biochar, while lower yields were seen in soil with added raw waste filter coffee grounds, and the lowest yield was found in soil without biochar. Among the soils with added biochar, the most significant root and stem development was observed in plants with 2 tons/ha of added biochar.

Beneficial role of Coronatine on the morphological and physiological responses of Cress Plants (Lepidium sativum) exposed to Silver Nanoparticle

BackgroundSilver nanoparticles are widely used in various fields such as industry, medicine, biotechnology, and agriculture. However, the inevitable release of these nanoparticles into the environment poses potential risks to ecosystems and may affect plant productivity. Coronatine is one of the newly identified compounds known for its beneficial influence on enhancing plant resilience against various stress factors. To evaluate the effectiveness of coronatine pretreatment in mitigating the stress induced by silver nanoparticles on cress plants, the present study was carried out.ResultsOur findings indicated a decrease in multiple growth parameters, proline content, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll, and carotenoids in cress plants exposed to silver nanoparticle treatment. This decline could be attributed to the oxidative stress induced by the presence of silver nanoparticles in the plants. Conversely, when coronatine treatment was applied, it effectively mitigated the reduction in growth parameters and pigments induced by the silver nanoparticles. Furthermore, we observed an increase in silver content in both the roots and shoot portions, along with elevated levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) content, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), anthocyanins, glutathione (GSH), and antioxidant enzyme activities in plants exposed to silver nanoparticles. Concurrently, there was a decrease in total phenolic compounds, ascorbate, anthocyanins, and proline content. Pre-treatment of cress seeds with coronatine resulted in increased levels of GSH, total phenolic compounds, and proline content while reducing the silver content in both the root and shoot parts of the plant.ConclusionsCoronatine pre-treatment appeared to enhance both enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant activities, thereby alleviating oxidative stress and improving the response to stress induced by silver nanoparticles.

The Ratio of Red to Far-Red Light Affects Growth, Pigment Content, and Photosynthetic Rates in Cress Plants

The Ratio of Red to Far-Red Light Affects Growth, Pigment Content, and Photosynthetic Rates in Cress Plants

Bismuth exposure affects morpho-physiological performances and the ionomic profile in garden cress (Lepidium sativum L.) plants

Environmental pollution caused by heavy metals has long been considered a relevant threat to ecosystem survival and human health. The use of safer substitutes for the most toxic heavy metals in many industrial applications is discussed as a potential way to face this issue. In this regard, Bi has been proposed for replacing Pb in several production processes. However, few literature records reported on the effects of Bi on living organisms, particularly on plants. In this study, garden cress (Lepidium sativum L.) plants were exposed to different concentrations of Bi nitrate added to soil in growth chambers for 21 days. Results evidenced the toxic effect of Bi on shoot growth, regardless of the Bi nitrate concentration in the soil, paralleled by a similar reduction in the chlorophyll and carotenoid content, a decrease in the nitrogen balance index values, and an impairment of the photosynthetic machinery evaluated by chlorophyll fluorescence image analysis. The presence of Bi in the soil was shown to affect element accumulation in roots and translocation to shoots, with micronutrient content particularly reduced in the leaves of Bi-treated plants. A dose-dependent plant accumulation of Bi to metal concentration in the soil was observed, even if very low metal bioconcentration ability was highlighted. The reduced Bi translocation from roots to shoots in plants exposed to increasing Bi concentrations in the soil is discussed as a possible defense mechanism likely associated with the observed increase of anthocyan and flavonol contents and the activation of photoprotection mechanisms preventing higher damages to the photosynthetic apparatus.

Determination of the effect of soil and irrigation water quality on total chlorophyll, carbohydrates, and proteins values in cress, parsley, celery, and basil plants.

The effect of soil and irrigation water quality in three sites of the Khasah Su River basin Kirkuk-Iraq was studied on the values ​​of total chlorophyll, carbohydrates, and proteins of cress, parsley, celery, and basil plants. Samples were collected from November 2021 to May 2022. Sampling sites in the Khasah Su River located between longitudes 44o 23/ and 44o 24/ and latitudes 35o 24/ and 35o 29/. Soil quality index (SQI) values ​​documented poor soil fertility in all sites, especially on the third site. Irrigation water quality index (IWQI) values were excellent in the first site, good in the second site, and poor in the third site. The basil plant recorded the lowest mean values ​​of carbohydrates 0.59ppm in the first site and proteins 0.26ppm in the second site and the cress plant recorded the lowest mean value of total chlorophyll at 7.92ppm in the first site. Parsley plant recorded the highest mean values ​​of carbohydrates 5.69ppm and total chlorophyll 21.46ppm, and cress plant highest average values ​​of proteins 1.63ppm on the third site. Basil and cress plants were the most affected by the decrease in soil quality and irrigation water index at the study sites, while parsley and celery plants were the least affected.

An environmentally friendly green synthesis of Co2+ and Mn2+ ion doped ZnO nanoparticles to improve solar cell efficiency

Global warming is a threat to human health in the context of increasing organic or inorganic pollutants, which are produced by various products. The “Green synthesis” method effectively eliminates toxic and/or harmful effects that arise due to the wet-chemical synthesis process. Different concentrations of Co2+ and Mn2+ ion doped ZnO-nanoparticles (NPs) were designed at a low temperature, about 70 °C by utilizing an eco-friendly sustainable method with dandelion leaf (DL) extract as a solvent and these biosynthesized NPs were annealed to grow the crystallinity enhancement. The confirmation of NPs crystal phase, phase purity, and grain size was performed by XRD, showing the hexagonal-Wurtzite phase structure. SEM and TEM images of the NPs demonstrated sub-100 nm spherical-shaped particles. Fourier transform infrared displays characteristics band about ∼523 cm–1 which corresponds to Zn–O tetrahedron asymmetric stretching vibrations. Both UV-Visible and luminescence studies confirmed the adjacent band edge emission of ZnO and successive incorporation of Co2+ and Mn2+ ion-doped ZnO host. For improving power conversion efficiency, the polycrystalline silicon solar cells (PSSCs), different layers of Co2+ and Mn2+ ion-doped ZnO-NPs coated on bare PSSCs are promising strategies. Additionally, solar cell efficiency decreases with further coating of NPs layers and/or thickness. Optimum solar cell efficiency was observed for 5 at% Mn2+ ion-doped ZnO-NPs with three layers. Finally, Radish and Cress plants are grown, using the biosynthesized ZnO-NPs supernatant from DL extract, which showed high environmental biocompatibility.

Investigation of different lighting (LED, HPS and FLO) in aquaponics systems for joint production of different plants (Lettuce, Parsley and Cress) and koi carp

We investigated the effects of growth performance of three plant species parsley (Petroselinum crispum), lettuce (Lactuca sativa) and cress (Lepidium sativum) under the three different lighting sources, Light-Emitting Diode lamp (LED; 200w), High-Pressure Sodium lamp (HPS; 200w) and Fluorescent lamp (FLO; 200w) in an aquaponic system. A total number of 43 koi fish (Cyprinus carpio var. koi) with 3628 g total biomass (84.4 g per individual) were used. The fish used in the experiment recorded 36% growth and reached an average individual weight of 132.7 g at the end of the experiment. The parsley plant was measured as 8.76 ±7.32 g; 7.45 ±4.13 g; 2.04 ±1.96 g weight after 45 days, the lettuce plant was 54.09 ± 25.60 g; 60.83 ±19.39 g; 17.81 ±6.40 g weight after 54 days, cress plant was 1.03 ±0.58 g; 1.15 ±0.46 g; 1.31 ±0.58 g weight after 42 days, under the HPS, LED, and FLO light sources, respectively. HPS and LED light sources in lettuce and parsley showed better plant development than the FLO, while no significant difference occurred in cress plants under three light conditions. We conclude that using HPS or LED lights in indoor aquaponics has the potential to produce good quality and adequate amounts of plants.

A review to investigate the nutrient profile of the nutrient-dense seed Lepidium sativum L.

Lepidium sativum is an annual, underutilized herb that belongs to the Brassicaceae family and has similar basic properties like mustard and water cress. Garden cress is grown throughout the Middle East, Europe, and the United States. Garden cress seeds are known throughout history for their medicinal properties and are cultivated for a variety of culinary purposes. Seeds have been used to treat many disorders such as asthma, uterine tumours, ulcers, colds, wounds, skin problems, irregular menstrual cycles, ischias, and ethmoidal polyps because of their nutritional and antioxidant activity. Besides showing strong medicinal properties, garden cress seeds have a rich proximate profile with high concentrations of energy, protein, ash, fat, and fibre compared to the common staple cereals and millets. Various parts of garden cress plants like leaves and seeds are consumed in many forms such as salad, sprouts and spices. The seeds are bitter in taste, thus to improve taste and quality, different processing techniques like roasting, germination, soaking and boiling etc. are used. Malnutrition is currently a major concern in all segments of society and garden cress seeds being rich in protein and energy can be utilized to combat malnutrition. The objective of this review is to enhance community health by consolidating a scientific understanding of the nutritional composition of L. sativum.

Response of yield, growth traits, and leaf nutrients of garden cress to deficit saline irrigation waters

abstract Food sustainability is continuously restricted by water shortage and poor water quality in water-scarce regions. In this study, a pot experiment was carried out under rain shelter conditions to quantify the impact of the different levels of water salinity on the yield, leaf nutrients, and growth traits of garden cress under different water-deficit levels. Twelve treatments included three water-deficit (WD) levels (I0, I1, and I2 indicating 100, 80, and 60% of field capacity, respectively) in combination with four saline irrigation water levels (IWS) (S1, S2, S3, and S4, indicating 0.38, 2, 4, and 8 dSm−1, respectively). Also, multiple linear regression analysis was performed to predict garden cress yield using WD, IWS, and soil salinity (ECe) parameters in different combinations. The results showed that yield, leaf area, stomata, chlorophyll content, leaf Ca2+, K+, K+/Na+, and Ca2+/Na+ markedly decreased under water deficit and water salinity interaction. The highest and lowest ECe values were observed at the I2S4 (8.67 dSm−1) and I0S1 (0.88 dSm−1) treatments. The highest yield was found at I0S1 (166.1 g pot−1), and it was 49.8% and 62.0% higher than I1S4 and I2S4 treatments. The developed models have R2 larger than 0.92, showing that they could provide a valuable tool for evaluating and estimating the garden cress productivity under different WD and IWS conditions. Finally, we conclude that WD (80% of FC or lower) combined with a higher IWS of 0.38 dSm−1 is not recommended for irrigating garden cress, which will cause considerable yield and commercial quality reduction of garden cress plants.

Disodyum oktaborat tetrahidratın (DOT) Roka (Eruca sativa Mill.) ve Tere (Lepidium sativum L.)'de tohum çimlenmesi ve gelişimi üzerine etkileri

Rocket (Eruca sativa Mill.) is cultivated throughout the year. Thanks to the rich metabolites of its leaves, it has a wide usage area in pharmacy. Cress (Lepidium sativum) is in the group of annual vegetables and has a herbaceous structure. Due to its fragrant and slightly spicy structure, it is a vegetable that is used as an appetizer. Its seeds and green parts are very beneficial for health. Rocket is a short-day plant whose leaves are considered to be rich in many minerals and vitamins. The present research was conducted to investigate the effects of doses of Disodium octaborate tetrahydrate (DOT) (0 (control), 15, 30, 45, 60 mg L-1 on the germination and development of seeds of rocket and cress plants grown in pot experiments. In order to determine the effect of DOT on the development and yield of rocket and cress plants, the percentage of germinated seeds, cotyledon length and dry matter amounts were determined. ANOVA test was used to analyze the data obtained in the present study. Tukey test was used to determine which groups were insignificant differences between the groups. Overall, it was seen that there were significant growth differences between the doses used statistically, the dose of 45 mg L-1 DOT positively affected the germination and dry matter content of rocket and cress seeds.

Necessary Parameters of Vertically Mounted Textile Substrates for Successful Cultivation of Cress for Low-Budget Vertical Farming

A growing population needs an expansion of agriculture to ensure a reliable supply of nutritious food. As a variable concept, vertical farming, becoming increasingly popular, can allow plant growth for local food produc­tion in the vertical sense on, e.g. facades in addition to the classical layered structure in buildings. As substrates, textile fabrics can be used as a sustainable approach in terms of reusability. In our experiment, we investigated which properties a textile should possess in order to be suitable for an application in vertical farming by the example of cress seeds. To determine the best-fitted fabric, four different textiles were mounted vertically, and were provided with controlled irrigation and illumination. Our results showed that a hairy textile surface as provided by weft-knitted plush is advantageous. There, the rooting of cress plants used in this experiment is easier and less complicated than along tightly meshed, flat surfaces, as for woven linen fabrics.

Indicative bacterial communities and taxa of disease-suppressing and growth-promoting composts and their associations to the rhizoplane.

ABSTRACTCompost applications vary in their plant growth promotion and plant disease suppression, likely due to differences in physico-chemical and biological parameters. Our hypothesis was that bacteria are important for plant growth promotion and disease suppression of composts and, therefore, composts having these traits would contain similar sets of indicative bacterial taxa. Seventeen composts prepared from five different commercial providers and different starting materials were classified accordingly with bioassays using cress plants and the pathogen Pythium ultimum. Using a metabarcoding approach, bacterial communities were assessed in bulk composts and cress rhizoplanes. Six and nine composts showed significant disease suppression or growth promotion, respectively, but these traits did not correlate. Growth promotion correlated positively with nitrate content of composts, whereas disease suppression correlated negatively with factors representing compost age. Growth promotion and disease suppression explained significant portions of variation in bacterial community structures, i.e. 11.5% and 14.7%, respectively. Among the sequence variants (SVs) associated with growth promotion, Microvirga, Acinetobacter, Streptomyces, Bradyrhizobium and Bacillus were highly promising, while in suppressive composts, Ureibacillus,Thermogutta and Sphingopyxis were most promising. Associated SVs represent the basis for developing prediction tools for growth promotion and disease suppression, a highly desired goal for targeted compost production and application.

Effect of Microbial Inoculum and Leachate Circulation on the Performance of Rotary Drum Composter Used for Household Wet Biodegradable Waste

To reduce transportation costs and harmful environmental impacts, the household wet biodegradable waste (HWBW) should be segregated and processed at the source of generation. In the present study, the performance of a decentralized rotary drum composter (capacity = 160 L) was evaluated for the stabilization of HWBW. The system was divided into four compartments and approximately 2.5 kg of HWBW was added in each compartment for 10 days. Two sets of experimental runs were conducted to examine the effect of inoculum addition along with the leachate circulation on the biodegradation process and compost quality. The composting process was assumed to be over in ~ 40 days after the temperature reduced to the ambient level. The inoculum addition slightly improved the degradation rate while reducing the composting period though no considerable effect could be observed by leachate circulation. The compost yield (< 4 mm fraction) during both sets of studies was 15–18% and its quality satisfied the prescribed Indian standards. To ensure production of the good quality compost, germination and self-heating tests were also performed. The results revealed that mixing of compost (20%) with soil enhanced the growth of cress plants. Apart from this, the waste decomposition rate was also predicted using various kinetic models available in the literature.

Exploring Unconventional Growing Methods to Promote Healthy Growth in Common Household Plants: Tagetes patula L. and Lepidium sativum

Chemical fertilizers have been used in increasing quantities for household gardening and commercial agriculture worldwide since their advent during the Green Revolution. Such fertilizers have detrimental impacts on the environment, contributing to nutrient runoff and aquatic dead zones. At the same time, water consumption for agricultural needs has&#x0D; skyrocketed. Alternative growing methods are urgently needed to reduce the impacts of plant cultivation. This study focused on finding more sustainable growing methods that reduce chemical fertilizer or water usage and can be used at the household level for garden plants. We hypothesized that the alternative growing methods would better encourage healthy plant growth as compared to a control. Several marigold (Tagetes patula L.) and garden cress (Lepidium sativum) plants were observed over a 13-week period. Metrics for healthy plant growth were height at first bloom, growing time, and survival rate. The results indicated that the treatments did not have a statistically significant effect on marigold and garden cress growth times in addition to marigold heights. However, the Deep Water Culture (DWC) treatment for garden cress plants significantly increased the height at first bloom compared to the control group. For rates of surviving plants, the treatments had little effect on garden cress, but the Eggshell Grounds, Wick System, and DWC system groups outperformed the control group for marigolds.

Effect of spraying of GA3 and Some Micronutrients on the growth and Mineral content of Cress plant (Lepidium sativum L.)

This study is conducted in aspicial farm in Adujail city\Salahaddin Governorate at the season 2015 on the cress plant. Afactorial experiment has conducted with two factors, the first is spraying with GA3 (G0 without spraying, G1 spraying with 50 mg.L-1, G2 spraying with 100 mg.L-1of GA3).the second factor is spraying with Micro Nutrients (T0 without spraying, T1spraying with 50 mg.L-1 of Fe,T2 spraying with 50 mg.L-1 of Mn, T3 spraying with amixture of 50+50 mg.L-1from Fe and Mn). The experiment is designed with (RCBD), the treatments were replicated 4 times and Duncuns Multiple Range Test at the probability 5% is used and the results are as fellowed:&#x0D; GA3 spraying causes asignificant increase in all Vegetative growth characters compared with the others which are not sprayed and also the Macro Nutrients concentration. Micro Nutrients sprayes on the Cress plants also causes asignificant increase in most Vegetative characters and Macro and Micro Nutrients content, specially the treatment of Fe and Mn mixture. Interaction between GA3 and Micronutrient is significant in all the treatment specially the treatment (100 mg.L-1 of GA3 + amixture of 50+50 mg.L-1 of Fe + Mn ) which give ahighest values of Vegetative growth and Macro and Micro Nutrients content .

Plant growth stage influences heavy metal accumulation in leafy vegetables of garden cress and sweet basil

BackgroundContamination of vegetable crops with heavy metals is a great threat to human health. On the other hand, monitoring plant tissue content of heavy metals at different growth stages could have important implications. In this study, shoot and root samples of garden cress and sweet basil were collected from five farms, from heavy metal polluted fields located in Shahre Rey, south of Tehran, Iran, in either young (3 weeks old) or mature (7 weeks old) plants. The concentrations of cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), arsenic (As), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn) and zinc (Zn) in plant tissues were determined using atomic absorption spectroscopy. In another study, 2 weeks (young) or 6 weeks old (mature) plants of garden cress were subjected to three concentrations of Cd and Pb (0, 5, 10 mg L−1) under hydroponic sand culture for 5 days, in which Hoagland formula was used for nutrient solution preparation.ResultsThe results showed that root concentration of various heavy metals, particularly Cd, As, Ni, Co, Cu, Mn and Zn but not Pb were significantly higher than their shoot concentration in either crop under field sampling. The leaf concentration of some heavy metals was significantly different in seedling and older (mature) plant samples of either crop. Young plant leaves of sweet basil had significantly less Cd, Pb, As and higher Cu than mature plants, whereas young garden cress plants had similar Cd, Pb and higher As and Zn concentrations than mature plants. The Cr, Co, Mn and Zn concentrations were similar in young and mature plants of sweet basil. The Mn, Co, Cr and Ni concentration of young and mature plants of either crop was also similar. The result of hydroponic study showed that young plants of garden cress had higher potential to accumulate lead in shoot and root, particularly in lower (5 mg L−1) than higher (10 mg L−1) lead concentration; however, root Pb concentration at 10 mg L−1 Pb of nutrient solution showed no difference between young and mature plants. Regarding cadmium, young garden cress plants accumulated higher Cd than mature plants in their shoot, particularly under higher Cd levels (10 rather than 5 mg L−1) of nutrient solution; however, a wide difference in root Cd concentration was observed under low (5 mg L−1) than higher (10 mg L−1) cadmium concentration of nutrient solution.ConclusionThe results of these two studies indicate that despite that young plants have a higher potential for heavy metal uptake and accumulation, the low difference in young and mature plants in the polluted fields may be due to the longer period of plant growth of mature plants that may increase the risk of exposure to polluted air and dust deposition containing high levels of heavy metals.

Terede (Lepidium Sativum L.) Bitki Sıklığının Verim ve Yaprak Kalitesine Etkisi

Bu çalışma, Ordu ekolojik şartlarında 2013-2014 üretim sezonunda, Ordu Üniversitesi Ziraat Fakültesi Bahçe Bitkileri Bölümü sera ve laboratuvarlarında gerçekleştirilmiştir. Bitkisel materyal olarak, ticari standart tere tohumları kullanılmıştır. Bitki yoğunluğu, 1 m2'ye ekilen tohum miktarı ile hesaplanmış ve tohumlar m2‘ye 1,0; 1,5; 2,0 ve 2,5 g olacak şekilde ekilmişlerdir. Yetiştirme ortamı olarak, 3:1 oranında hazırlanan torf: perlit karışımı kullanılmış, 50×16×14 cm ölçülerindeki plastik kaplara doldurulmuştur. Tere bitkileri, tohum ekiminden 45 gün sonra hasat edilmiştir. Hasat edilen bitkilerin verimi, yaprak sap uzunluğu, yaprak boyu, yaprak eni ve klorofil içeriği belirlenmiştir. Kalite parametreleri, bitki yoğunluklarına ve çeşitlere göre değişim göstermiştir. En yüksek bitki verimi 2.489,2 g/m2 ile “BT Bu ter” çeşidinden elde edilmiştir. Farklı bitki yoğunluklarında bitki verimi %3,31 ile %8,25 arasında değişen oranlarda artmıştır. Artan bitki yoğunlukları verimde bir artışa neden olmuş, ancak yaprak kalitesi hem yaprak boyu hem de klorofil içeriği açısından olumsuz etkilenmiştir. Bitki sıklığındaki artışa bağlı olarak yaprak eni, yaprak boyu, yaprak sapı uzunluğu ve klorofil içeriği azalmıştır. Çalışma ile elde edilen bilgilerin ışığında, yetiştirme amacına göre çeşit seçiminin ve gelişme mevsimi bazında bitki yoğunluklarının belirlenmesinin faydalı olduğu düşünülmüştür.

Mycorrhizae enhances horticultural plant yield and nutrient uptake under phosphorus deficient field soil condition

Mycorrhizae can enhance plant growth and phosphorus (P) use efficiency in horticultural plants. This research evaluated the effectiveness of mycorrhizae on increasing growth and yield of nine horticultural plants for two different rates of P fertilization under field conditions. The mycorrhizal inoculums increased the root colonization of mycorrhizal horticultural plants compared with the non-inoculated treatments. Mycorrhizal inoculation significantly increased onion, garlic, chickpea, broad bean, carrot, parsley and cress plants. Mycorrhizal effectiveness showed that without P addition the effect of mycorrhizae on plant yield is much higher than that with P fertilizer addition. Under low P fertilization inoculation effectiveness is much higher than P addition treatments. Mycorrhizal inoculums also increased tissue P and zinc (Zn) for horticultural plant. The improved growth, yield, Zn and P uptake in plants demonstrated the potential of mycorrhizal inoculation to reduce the effects P fertilization on horticultural plants grown under field conditions.

Decentralized composting of household wet biodegradable waste in plastic drums: Effect of waste turning, microbial inoculum and bulking agent on product quality

Household wet biodegradable waste (HWBW) forms a major portion of municipal solid waste (MSW) in developing nations. Its recycling at the source of generation can not only reduce waste transportation costs but also prevent harmful air emissions. Therefore, the present study was planned to investigate the performance of a decentralized household composting system for onsite recycling of source-segregated HWBW. The study was carried out in the recycled plastic drums (capacity = 100 L). The effect of waste turning and addition of microbial inoculum and bulking agent (garden waste) on the composting process was examined. The results showed that proper provisions for aeration and periodic waste turning are necessary to produce good quality compost. The addition of a suitable microbial inoculum can reduce duration of waste stabilization. During composting, the peak temperature was found greater than 55 °C for 3–6 days and the compost yield (<4 mm fraction) was 18%–20%. The phytotoxicity tests results showed that the growth of cress plants is not affected in the presence of 20% of compost mixed in soil. One-time addition of inoculum at the start of composting process was found sufficient for completion of the active decomposition period within 30 days. Based on the above results, two-drum systems can be suggested as feasible option to produce compost from HWBW.

Promising agrofibers based on biodegradable polymers

Nonwoven fibrous materials from biodegradable polymers: polylactide and poly-3-hydroxybutyrate were obtained. Water vapor sorption by nonwoven fiber samples was investigated. It was determined that the substrate of non-woven material does not have a negative impact on the growth and development of cress plants. It is shown that the studied fiber samples are actively subjected to destruction in the soil, on the sample of PLA-PHB composition is decomposed faster than pure PLA.