Biofortification of Chia Genotypes with Lithium Hydroxide

Abstract

Lithium (Li) is an important alkali metal that exists in the elemental form of nature. Thus, the objective was to evaluate the effect of foliar fertilization with doses of lithium hydroxide on the development and productivity of two chia genotypes, in the south of the state. The experiment was carried out at the Federal University of Tocantins, Campus de Gurupi-TO, in the agricultural year 2017/18 in pots of 8 dm-3 containing red-yellow dystrophic oxisol, deep and clayey texture, in a randomized block design, under a factorial 5x2 scheme, with four replications. The characteristics of plant height, upper stem height, stem diameter, bunch length, number of bunches, liquid photosynthesis, transpiration, stomach conductance and, after harvest (145 days), thousand grain mass, grain yield and Lí content in the grains were evaluated leaf and soil. The highest concentrations of lithium in the chia grains are obtained with the application of 24.6 g ha-1 and 18.5 g ha-1 of LiOH for the genotypes originating in Paraguay and Argentina, respectively. The best responses in height, length of bunch, number of bunches, lithium content in the grain, mass of a thousand grains, liquid photosynthesis, transpiration and stomach conductance were obtained with the genotype from Paraguay.