Effect of superabsorbent on soil moisture, productivity and some physiological and biochemical characteristics of basil
¹Uman National University of Horticulture, Faculty of Horticulture, Ecology and Plants Protection, Department of Vegetable Growing, Faculty of Management, Department of Ukrainian and Foreign Languages Instytutska street, 1, UA20300 Uman, Ukraine
²Institute of Plant Physiology and Genetics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Vasylkivska street, 31/17, UA03022 Kyiv, Ukraine. 3Institute of Plant Protection National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine, Vasylkivska street, 33, UA03022 Kyiv, Ukraine
³Institute of Plant Protection National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine, Vasylkivska street, 33, UA03022 Kyiv, Ukraine *Correspondence: slaviksklavin16@gmail.com
Abstract:
The study was carried out in 2019–2020, in the conditions of the Right-Bank Forest-Steppe of Ukraine. The results on the influence of absorbents in gel and powder forms on the productivity of basil plants (Ocimum basilicum L.) are presented. For research were used field, laboratory, statistical and calculation-analytical methods. Absorbent in the form of a gel was used while transplanting: dip the roots of the plant in the solution and then transplant in the field. Absorbent in the form of a powder – 5 kg ha-1, application of the absorbent into the soil layer 20–25 cm-1. Absorbents contributed to a slight decrease of sugar content (-0.86–2.68% in the cultivar of Badioryi, -1.48–2.35% in the cultivar of Rutan), significantly decrease ascorbic acid (-8.6–20.1%) and content of the essential oil (8.0–19.4%) and indirectly increased essential oil yield by increasing fresh weight yield in both varieties. The activity of APX, CAT, SOD, tended to decrease in all variants of the experiment, regardless of the form of the absorbent. APX (-12.8–35.1%), CAT (-10.9–22.0%), SOD (-11.9–17.0%). Higher yields were observed in the version with the introduction of the absorbent in the form of a gel. Thus, the yield of the cultivars of Badioryi and Rutan exceeded the control by 52.67 and 50.05%, in accordance. The productivity of basil is increased with the use of superabsorbent polymers. This practice can be recommended to agricultural producers who grow vegetables, in particular, basil in areas of unstable or insufficient moisture.
Key words:
antioxidant activity, chlorophyll, Ocimum basilicum, yield