Abstract
Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) is an important legume herb in the Fabaceae family. Since ancient times, it has been used for therapeutic purposes due to its significant nutraceutical and pharmacological characteristics. It is seeds and leaves are extremely valuable because they contain medicinally significant phytochemicals such as alkaloids, carbohydrates, steroidal saponins, amino acids, and other vital organic and inorganic substances and minerals. This study aimed to evaluate the ability of biochar and chitosan to enhance fenugreek growth, yield, yield components, and mineral content. Therefore, fenugreek plants were subjected to the different level of biochar and chitosan application under different soil and ecological conditions of diverse localities. The experimental design was factorial with 3 biochar (0, 0.5, and 1% w/w) and chitosan (0, 1 and 5 g/L) application rates. The measured variables were seed yield plant−1, number of pods plant−1, number of seeds pod−1, plant height (g), pod length, number of branches per plant, number of leaves per plant, seed oil percentage, seed oil yield/plant, seed nitrogen, seed total carbohydrates, Potassium (K) %, Phosphorus (P) % and Iron (Fe)%. Results testified that fenugreek responded well in term of yield and related traits along with mineral accumulation in the red Mediterranean silt loam soil than those grown at yellow Mediterranean sandy loam soil. Fenugreek phenology and yield responded positively to the highest rate of chitosan and biochar application in the red Mediterranean silt loam soil. However, seed carbohydrates concentration was analogous at all rates of chitosan and biochar application under both localities. It was concluded that soil diversity and ecological condition of both localities provoked fenugreek phenology, morphology, oil concentration, oil yield, N digestion, Potassium (K)%, Phosphorus (P)% and Iron (Fe)% but did not trigger carbohydrates concentration in the plant. This study provides evidence that will help to develop recommendations for the production of fenugreek as a source of flavonoids and minerals for healthy consumption.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adlercreutz H, Bannwart C, Wähälä K, Mäkelä T, Brunow G, Hase T, Vickery LE (1993) Inhibition of human aromatase by mammalian lignans and isoflavonoid phytoestrogens. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol 44(2):147–153
Al-Tawaha AM, Seguin P, Smith DL, Beaulieu C (2005) Biotic elicitors as a means of increasing isoflavone concentration of soybean seeds. Ann Appl Biol 146(3):303–310
Al-Tawaha ARM, Imran, Al-Tawaha A, Khalid S, Rauf A, Thangadurai D, Sangeetha J, Khanum S, Ghanem S, Sharf-Eldin A (2020a) Adapting crop management practices to climate change. Adv Environ Biol 14:10–18
Al-Tawaha ARM, Jahan N, Odat N, Al-Ramamneh EAD, Al-Tawaha AR, Abu-Zaitoon YM, Khanum S (2020b) Growth, yield and biochemical responses in barley to DAP and chitosan application under water stress. J Ecol Eng 21(6):86–93
Ali K, Munsif F, Husain Z, Khan I, Ahmad N, Khan N, Shahid M (2011) Effect of different weed control methods on weeds and maize grain yield. Pakistan J Weed Sci Res 17(4):313–321
Alotaibi KD, Schoenau JJ (2019) Addition of biochar to a sandy desert soil: effect on crop growth, water retention and selected properties. Agronomy 9:32
Amanullah, Khan I, Jan A, Jan MT, Khalil SK, Shah Z, Afzal M (2015) Compost and nitrogen management influence productivity of spring maize (Zea mays L.) under deep and conventional tillage systems in Semi-arid regions. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 46(12):1566–1578
Amanullah, Khalid S, Imran, Khan HA, Al-Tawaha AR, Adnan M, Fahad S, Parmar B (2019) Organic matter management in cereals based system: Symbiosis for improving crop productivity and soil health. In: Lal R, Francaviglia R (eds) Sustainable agriculture reviews, vol 29. Springer, Cham https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26265-5_3
Amanullah, Yar M, Khalid S, Elshikh MS, Akram HM, Imran, Al Tawaha AM, Ali A (2022) Phenology, growth, productivity, and profitability of mungbean as affected by potassium and organic matter under water stress vs. no water stress conditions. J Plant Nutr 45(5):629–650
AOAC (Association of Official Analytical Chemists) (1980) Official methods of analysis of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists, 13th edn. AOAC, Washington
Asghari-Zakaria R, Maleki-Zanjani B, Sedghi E (2009) Effect of in vitro chitosan application on growth and minituber yield of Solanum tuberosum L. Plant Soil Environ 55:252–256. https://doi.org/10.17221/1018-PSE
Benhamou N, Lafontaine PJ, Nicole M (1994) Induction of systemic resistance to Fusarium crown and root rot in tomato plants by seed treatment with chitosan. Phytopathology 84:432–1444
Bista P, Ghimire R, Machado S, Pritchett L (2019) Biochar effects on soil properties and wheat biomass vary with fertility management. Agronomy 9:623
Chan KY, Van Zwieten L, Meszaros I, Downie A, Joseph S (2007) Agronomic values of greenwaste biochar as a soil amendment. Soil Res 45(8):629–634
Chapman HD, Pratt PF (1978) Methods of analysis for soils, plants and water. Univ. of California, Prical publication, vol 4030, pp 12–19
DuBois M, Gilles KA, Hamilton J K, Rebers PA, Smith F (1956) Colorimetric method for determination of sugars and related substances. Analytical Chemistry 28(3):350–356
Duzan H (2004) Nod factor perception and response by soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.) under abiotic and biotic stress conditions. Ph.D. Thesis. McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada. 144 p
Elmer WH, Pignatello JJ (2011) Effect of biochar amendments on mycorrhizal associations and Fusarium crown and root rot of Asparagus in replant soils. Plant Dis 95:960–966
Glaser B, Lehmann J, Zech W (2002) Ameliorating physical and chemical properties of highly weathered soils in the tropics with bio-char—A review. Biol Fertil Soils 35:219–230
Gul F, Jan D, Ashfaq M (2019) Assessing the impact of climate change adaptation strategies on poverty rates of wheat farmers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Sarhad J Agric 35:442–448
Hamzah Z, Shuhaimi SNA (2018) Biochar: effects on crop growth. IOP Conf Ser Earth Environ Sci 215:12011
Hasanuzzaman M (2019) Management practices. Agronomic crops, vol 2. Springer Nature, Berlin
Havlin J, Beaton J, Tisdale S, Nelson W (2005) Soil fertility and fertilizers: An introduction to nutrient management. Prentice Hall, Hoboken
Ilyas M, Ayub G, Imran, Ali Awan A, Ahmad M (2021) Calcium and boron effect on production and quality of autumn potato crop under chilling temperature. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 52(4):375–388
Imran K (2017) Compost and nitrogen application influence phenology, growth and biomass yield of spring maize under deep and conventional tillage systems. J Soils Crop 27(1):1–6
Imran A (2018) Global impact of climate change on water, soil resources and threat towards food security: evidence from Pakistan. Adv Plants Agric Res 8(5):350–355
Imran M, Arif M, Ali S, Ahmad S, Ullah M, Habibullah M (2014) Integration of biochar with organic and inorganic sources of phosphorous for improving maize productivity. Integration 4(11):1–7
Imran, Amanullah, Al-Tawaha AR (2022) Carbon assimilation and dry matter partitioning in soybean ameliorates with the integration of nano-black carbon, along with beneficial microbes and phosphorus fertilization. J Plant Nutr. https://doi.org/10.1080/01904167.2022.2035753
Ingold M, Dietz H, Sradnick A, Joergensen RG, Schlecht E, Buerkert A (2015) Effects of activated charcoal and quebracho tannin amendments on soil properties in irrigated organic vegetable production under arid subtropical conditions. Biol Fertil Soils 51(3):367–377
Jeffery S, Abalos D, Spokas KA, Verheijen FG (2015) Biochar effects on crop yield. In: Biochar for environmental management. Routledge, London, pp 333–358
Khan IA, Khan MI, Khan I, Imran M, Idrees M, Bıbı S (2013) Effect of different herbicides and plant extracts on yield and yield components of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Pak J Bot 45(3):981–985
Kim JD, Imran K, Shin TS, Kim MY (2015) Molecular mechanism of angiogenesis and obesity with camellia sinensis fruit peel extract, pp 585–585
Kimetu JM, Lehmann J, Ngoze SO, Mugendi DN, Kinyangi JM, Riha S, Pell AN (2008) Reversibility of soil productivity decline with organic matter of differing quality along a degradation gradient. Ecosystems 11(5):726–739
Kneer R, Poulev AA, Olesinski A, Raskin I (1999) Characterization of the elicitor-induced biosynthesis and secretion of genistein from roots of Lupinus luteus L. J Exp Bot 50(339):1553–1559
Liang B, Lehmann J, Solomon D, Kinyangi J, Grossman J, O’Neill BJ, Neves EG (2006) Black carbon increases cation exchange capacity in soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 70(5):1719–1730
Loss SP, Siddique KHM (1994) Morphological and physiological traits associated with wheat yield increases in Mediterranean environments. Adv Agron 52:229–276
Magdoff F, Weil RR (2004) Soil organic matter management strategies. In: Soil organic matter in sustainable agriculture, pp 45–65
Marris E (2006) Black is the new green. Nature 442:624–626
Mondal MM, Malek MA, Puteh AB, Ismail MR, Ashrafuzzaman M, Naher L (2012) Effect of foliar application of chitosan on growth and yield in okra. Aust J Crop Sci 6(5):918–921
Muhammad M, Chattha MU, Hassan MU, Imran K, Chatth MB, Muhammad U, Asif I, Muhammad J (2017) Response of sunflower to different tillage systems and foliar application of potassium under water deficit conditions. Int J Biol Biotechnol 14(2):265–270
Prayogo C, Jones JE, Baeyens J, Bending GD (2014) Impact of biochar on mineralisation of C and N from soil and willow litter and its relationship with microbial community biomass and structure. Biol Fertil Soils 50(4):695–702
Raznikiewicz HE, Carlgren KAL, Maartensson A (1994) Impact of phosphorus fertilization and liming on the presence of arbuscular mycorrhizal spores in a Swedish long-term field experiment. Swed J Agric Res 24(4):157–164
Rondon MA, Molina D, Hurtado M, Ramirez J, Lehmann J, Major J, Amezquita E (2006) July. Enhancing the productivity of crops and grasses while reducing greenhouse gas emissions through bio-char amendments to unfertile tropical soils. In: 18th world congress of soil science. International Union of Soil Sciences, Philadelphia, pp 9–15
SAS Institute Inc. (1989) SAS/STAT User’s Guide. Vol. 2, Version 6, 4th Edition, Cary, NC
Shah T, Khan H, Noor MA, Ghoneim A, Wang X, Sher A, Nasir N, Basahi MA (2018) Effects of potassium on phenological, physiological and agronomic traits of maize (Zea mays L.) under high nitrogen nutrition with optimum and reduced irrigation. Appl Ecol Environ Res 16(5):7079–7097
Steiner C, Teixeira WG, Lehmann J, Nehls T, de Macêdo JLV, Blum WE, Zech W (2007) Long term effects of manure, charcoal and mineral fertilization on crop production and fertility on a highly weathered Central Amazonian upland soil. Plant Soil 291(1):275–290
Wani SA, Kumar P (2018) Fenugreek: A review on its nutraceutical properties and utilization in various food products. J Saudi Soc Agric Sci 17(2):97–106
Warnock DD, Lehmann J, Kuyper TW, Rillig MC (2007) Mycorrhizal responses to biochar in soil–concepts and mechanisms. Plant Soil 300(1):9–20
Zia T, Hasnain SN, Hasan SK (2001) Evaluation of the oral hypoglycaemic effect of Trigonella foenum-graecum L.(methi) in normal mice. J Ethnopharmacol 75(2–3):191–195
Acknowledgements
This work was carried out during a sabbatical leave granted by The University of Jordan to Ali M. Qaisi, from Feb. 2020 to Feb. 2021.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
All authors contributed equally to this work.
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
A. M. Qaisi, A. R. Al Tawaha, Imran and M. Al-Rifaee declare that they have no competing interests. Our organization strives to maintain the highest standards of integrity, and it is vital that the public be confident of our commitment.
Ethical standards
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants or on human tissue were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1975 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Qaisi, A.M., Al Tawaha, A.R., Imran et al. Effects of Chitosan and Biochar-Mended Soil On Growth, Yield and Yield Components and Mineral Composition of Fenugreek. Gesunde Pflanzen 75, 625–636 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10343-022-00727-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10343-022-00727-x