Foliar application of zinc in the agronomic biofortification of arugula

Abstract

Zinc deficiency affects one third of the population and a possible solution is the agronomic biofortification of vegetables. Due to the increased consumption of arugula, this vegetable has good potential of use; however, there are few researches on the subject. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of foliar zinc applications, at different times, on physiological, yield, nutritional, and biofortification parameters of the 'Broad Leaf ' arugula. Three doses (0.5, 1, and 1.5 kg ha-1 Zn) were evaluated at five times (15; 20; 25; 15 and 20; and 15, 20 and 25 days after emergence) and a control treatment. Ot was observed that there was no effect of the application on the physiological variables, as well as on the height, leaf area, and fresh mass of aerial parts of the plant. Zn sprayings affected the N contents, while for Mn, P, Cu, and Fe, no significant effects were found. Ot was verified that with the application of 1.5 kg ha-1 Zn made at 25 days after emergence, a higher Zn content was obtained in the arugula leaves, representing an increase of 279% in relation to the control, showing the effectiveness of foliar zinc applications as an agronomic biofortification strategy for arugula.

Agronomic biofortification with zinc in curly lettuce cultivars

“…These data corroborate with data obtained by Reyes et al (2019), who applied zinc in a single dose via arugula leaf for biofortification, despite observing phytotoxic effects on plants between 1 to 1.5 kg ha -1 did not show a decrease in productivity. The values found in the current experiment are close to the values found by other authors (Silveira et al, 2015;Vargas et al, 2017).…”

“…Seema et al (2017), in a study with spinach, also observed that leaf zinc content increased as there was an increase in zinc content applied to the soil. According to Reyes et al (2019), foliar fertilization with up to 1.5 kg ha -1 of zinc, even when applied in soils with high micronutrient content, does not affect the physiological parameters and biomass of arugula.…”

Mineral Biofortification of Vegetables as a Tool to Improve Human Diet

“…After applying 22.7 kg ha −1 of Zn (in the form of Zn sulphate, ZnSO 4 ·7H 2 O) to the soil, Mao et al [ 90 ] observed a significant increase in the Zn concentration of the edible portions of canola ( Brassica napus L.) and cabbage ( Brassica rapa L. Chinensis Group) (by 25% and 200%, respectively). Zinc biofortification through foliar spray has been successfully performed in arugula ( Eruca sativa L.) using 1.5 kg ha −1 of ZnSO 4 ·7H 2 O, with a resulting +94% increase of leaf Zn concentration [ 91 ]. Among non-Brassicas leafy vegetables, in a study conducted by Barrameda-Medina et al [ 92 ] hydroponically cultured plants of lettuce ( Lactuca sativa L.) supplemented with 100 µM ZnSO 4 ·7H 2 O in the nutrient solution showed a 251% increase in leaf Zn concentration.…”

Molecular weight and concentration of chitosan affect plant development and phenolic substance pattern in arugula

“…Arugula has been employed as a research plant in studies, including the recent ones that aimed to investigate light color and intensity on the plant's growth (Johnson et al, 2020) to understand selenium tolerance of the species (Santiago et al, 2020), and to increase yield through foliar zinc (Rugeles-Reyes et al, 2019), sulfur, and tyrosine treatments (Al-Mohammad and Al-Taey, 2019). However, the studies explaining the effects of chitosan treatment on Eruca vesicaria ssp.…”