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Turmeric powder: biostimulator from expired lettuce seeds?

The process of seed germination is considered a critical phase of development in the life cycle of plants and is important for the establishment of seedlings, in addition to being directly related to the ability to adapt to severe environmental conditions (Steinbrecher and Leubner-Metzger, 2017STEINBRECHER, T. and LEUBNER-METZGER, G.T., 2017. The biomechanics of seed germination. Journal of Experimental Botany, vol. 68, no. 4, pp. 765-783. PMid:27927995.; Thakur et al., 2022THAKUR, P.S., CHATTERJEE, A., RAJPUT, L.S., RANA, S., BHATIA, V. and PRAKASH, S., 2022. Laser biospeckle technique for characterizing the impact of temperature and initial moisture content on seed germination. Optics and Lasers in Engineering, vol. 153, pp. 106999. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.optlaseng.2022.106999.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.optlaseng.20...
).

One way to maintain seed quality is through the application of chemical treatments, usually with fungicides, inoculants, stimulants, micronutrients and others. However, the indiscriminate use of agrochemicals means that there is a need for alternative products, preferably biodegradable and that do not present toxicity to humans and animals (Neves et al., 2021NEVES, V.S., LOPES, E.A. and FERREIRA, P.A. Uso de produtos e extratos vegetais no controle de nematoides. In: M. VEZON, W.S. NEVES, T.J. PAULA JÚNIOR and A.V. PALLINI, eds. Controle alternativo de pragas e doenças: opção ou necessidade. Belo Horizonte: EPAMIG, 2021. p. 118-124.).

In this sense, turmeric (Curcuma longa L.), which has several pharmacological activities, such as anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antimutagenic and antioxidant effects, due to the presence of the metabolites such as curcumin (Jyotirmayee and Mahalik, 2022JYOTIRMAYEE, B. and MAHALIK, G., 2022. A review on selected pharmacological activities of Curcuma longa L. International Journal of Food Properties, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 1377-1398. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10942912.2022.2082464.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10942912.2022....
; Balasaheb et al., 2020BALASAHEB, K.S., SHITOLE, S., HOLE, R. and HAKE, K., 2020. Herbal antimicrobial, antiseptic dusting powder of, seeds of Daucus carota L., Curcuma longa, leaves of Azadirachta indica, seeds of Trachyspermum Ammi. International Journal of Research in Engineering, Science and Management, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 257-260.), may represent benefits in seed treatment and in the initial development of seedlings.

Considering that, for various reasons, such as not having information on what procedures should be taken when a batch of seeds expires or also because they do not have large amounts of batches, the small farmer uses batches of these expired seeds, therefore, seed treatment of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) with the natural antioxidant turmeric curcuma, may allow increases in the germination process.

In view of this, turmeric would be a possible option, being a low-cost natural source to meet organic agriculture or to reduce the use of agrochemicals, in order to provide uniformity and establishment of the initial stand. Therefore, the objective was to evaluate turmeric powder in the quality of American lettuce seeds (Great lakes 659), that expired five years ago.

The experiment was carried out at the Laboratory for Processing Products of Plant Origin, Department of Agronomy, Federal University of Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri (UFVJM), JK campus, in the city of Diamantina - Minas Gerais.

Lettuce seeds, cultivar Great lakes 659, with a batch expired for five years, were treated at five different doses: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 g of dry turmeric powder/kg of pure seeds. The treatments consisted of four replications with 50 seeds each, arranged in a completely randomized design and evaluated in laboratory conditions (69% and 20°C).

Lettuce seeds were conditioning in plastic bags, and three drops of water added, with the aid of a Pasteur pipette and the different doses of turmeric powder. Then, the plastic bags were shaken as a way to homogenize the treatment and improve the fixation of powder to the seeds.

To evaluate the quality of the seeds, the substrate used was germitest® paper, two leaves were moistened with distilled water at a rate of 2.5 times the weight of the dry paper, kept in laboratory conditions under Petri dishes. With evaluation of normal and abnormal seedlings, hard and dead seeds, obtained at the end of the test, on the seventh day, and the results were expressed in percentage (Brasil, 2009BRASIL. Ministério da Agricultura, Pecuária e Abastecimento, 2009. Regras para análise de sementes. Brasília: Mapa/ACS, 395 p.).

Concomitant to the germination test, root protrusion was adapted by Nobre et al. (2021)NOBRE, D.A.C., SILVA, A.A., FERNANDES, G.M., SILVA, G.H. and MACEDO, W.R., 2021. Exogenous antioxidants on quality of cabbage seeds. Rodriguésia, vol. 72, pp. 1-7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/2175-7860202172019.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/2175-786020217...
, counted 48 hours the rupture of the endosperm and emission of the radicle by the embryonic axis, the results were expressed as a percentage. And for the germination speed index (GSI), with daily monitoring after the test was set up, according to Maguire (1962)MAGUIRE, J.D., 1962. Speed germination-aid in selection and evaluation for seedling emergence and vigor. Crop Science, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 176-177. http://dx.doi.org/10.2135/cropsci1962.0011183X000200020033x.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2135/cropsci1962.00...
.

At the end of the tests, the normal seedlings of each treatment were weighed on a 0.001g precision scale to determine the fresh mass in grams (g). And they were also measured from the root to the shoot, to obtain the length with the aid of a ruler graduated in centimeters (cm).

The data were subjected to analysis of variance, and the effects of turmeric doses analyzed by regression, with program Sisvar® (Ferreira, 2011FERREIRA, D.F., 2011. Sisvar: a computer statistical analysis system. Ciência e Agrotecnologia, vol. 35, no. 6, pp. 1039-1042. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1413-70542011000600001.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1413-70542011...
).

All evaluated variables are significant (p<0.05), except for root protrusion. There was a reduction in the germination rate and an increase in abnormal seedlings, as the doses of turmeric powder were increased (Figure 1).

Figure 1
Germination - G (A) and abnormal seedlings - AS (B), obtained from iceberg lettuce seeds, cultivar Great lakes 659, batch expired five years ago, under doses of turmeric powder.

One hypothesis suggested for such reductions in germination is the possible water restriction of seeds with the application of turmeric powder, since solids or substances with low solubility in contact with water, attract their molecules and reduce the water potential (Kerbauy, 2013KERBAUY, G.B., 2013. Fisiologia vegetal. 2. ed. Rio de Janeiro: Guanabara Koogan, 446 p.). Negative water potentials, especially at the beginning of imbibition, promote reduction in water absorption by the seeds, which may make the of germination (Taiz and Zeiger, 2009TAIZ, L. and ZEIGER, E., 2009. Fisiologia vegetal. Porto Alegre: Artmed.).

Henrique et al. (2021)HENRIQUE, I.G., BOSQUEIRO, R.O., KOTSUBO, R.M. and BOTELHO, S.C.C., 2021. Déficit hídrico e a germinação de sementes de híbridos de milho. Nativa, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 240-246. http://dx.doi.org/10.31413/nativa.v9i3.9686.
http://dx.doi.org/10.31413/nativa.v9i3.9...
found that the reduction in water availability contributed negatively to the percentage and speed of germination, as well as the increase in the number of abnormal seedlings. For Toledo and Marcos Filho (1997), when the germination power decreases, many seedlings are abnormal and not able to survive until maturity.

As the doses of turmeric powder increased, a greater number of dead seeds (DS) was observed, while the germination speed index (GSI) expressed a behavior similar to that of germination, with a reduction in vigor with the increase in seeds applied doses (Figure 2).

Figure 2
Dead seeds - DS (A) and germination speed index - GSI (B) of iceberg lettuce seeds, cultivar Great lakes 659, batch expired five years ago, under doses of turmeric powder.

The treatment of lettuce seeds with dry turmeric powder may have been the possible cause of water stress, and of promoting the reduction of physiological quality in the present study. Signs of water stress, promoted by reduced water availability, limit seed imbibition and promote a reduction in the germination process (Farooq et al., 2009FAROOQ, M., WAHID, A., KOBAYASHI, N., FUJITA, D. and BASRA, S.M.A., 2009. Plant drought stress: Effects, mechanisms and management. Agronomy for Sustainable Development, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 135-212. http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/agro:2008021.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/agro:2008021...
; Felix et al., 2018FELIX, F.C., ARAÚJO, F.S., SILVA, M.D., FERRARI, C.S. and PACHECO, M.V., 2018. Estresse hídrico e térmico na germinação de sementes de Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit. Agrária, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 1-7. http://dx.doi.org/10.5039/agraria.v13i2a5515.
http://dx.doi.org/10.5039/agraria.v13i2a...
).

For seedling length, reductions were also observed with the addition of turmeric powder doses, (Figure 3A). In comparison with the control, this was mainly due to the possible water restriction in the small lettuce seeds, preventing the activation of metabolism and rapid development. The same was observed by Abati et al. (2014)ABATI, J., BRZEZINSKI, C.R., ZUCARELI, C., HENNING, F.A., ALVES, V.F.N. and GARCIA, V.V., 2014. Qualidade fisiológica de sementes de trigo tratadas com biorregulador em condições de restrição hídrica. Informativo ABRATES, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 32-36., where there was a reduction in the length of seedlings, mainly due to water restriction, which slowed down the physiological and biochemical processes, restricting the development of seedlings.

Figure 3
Seedling length - SL (A) and seedling fresh mass - SFM (B), obtained from iceberg lettuce seeds, cultivar Great lakes 659, batch expired five years ago, under doses of turmeric powder.

In opposition, to the fresh mass of lettuce seedlings, presented there was an enlarged as the doses increased (Figure 3B).

The increments presented in the fresh mass may be due turmeric has a biostimulating effect on the initial development of these seedlings after germination, thus allowing an increase in the water content in the aerial part of the seedlings via root absorption. In addition, turmeric has antioxidant action, which may have favored the defense system of the seedlings in the possible situation of water deficit caused by the dry powder.

Junqueira et al. (2017)JUNQUEIRA, I.A., DEUS, M.B., NICCHIO, B. and LANA, R.M.Q., 2017. Ação de biorreguladores na qualidade e fisiologia de sementes e plântulas de girassol. Pesquisa Agropecuária Pernambucana, vol. 22, no. 13, e201713. http://dx.doi.org/10.12661/pap.2017.004.
http://dx.doi.org/10.12661/pap.2017.004...
, showed that the use of bioregulator is favorable in the initial start of the seedling and increases the water content in the leaves, in addition to raising the levels of antioxidants for the defense system. Hermes et al. (2015)HERMES, E.C.K., NUNES, J. and NUNES, J.V.D., 2015. Influência do bioestimulante no enraizamento e produtividade da soja. Revista Cultivando o Saber, no. Edição Especial, pp. 35-45., indicate the use of biostimulant via seeds to obtain higher values of fresh mass.

In addition, the standard deviation presented in the Figures 1, 2 and 3, are close to the observed averages, which infers greater homogeneity of the sample under study.

In view of the above, turmeric powder applied to expired lettuce seeds showed promise after root protrusion, with fresh mass gain, however it did not obtain a favorable response for physiological quality. Despite this, future works should investigate the process of water restriction with the possible treatment of seeds with dry powder, in order to use the natural biostimulant as a way to increase seed quality and reduce the use of agrochemicals.

Acknowledgements

To the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brasil (CAPES) - Finance Code 001.

References

  • ABATI, J., BRZEZINSKI, C.R., ZUCARELI, C., HENNING, F.A., ALVES, V.F.N. and GARCIA, V.V., 2014. Qualidade fisiológica de sementes de trigo tratadas com biorregulador em condições de restrição hídrica. Informativo ABRATES, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 32-36.
  • BALASAHEB, K.S., SHITOLE, S., HOLE, R. and HAKE, K., 2020. Herbal antimicrobial, antiseptic dusting powder of, seeds of Daucus carota L., Curcuma longa, leaves of Azadirachta indica, seeds of Trachyspermum Ammi International Journal of Research in Engineering, Science and Management, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 257-260.
  • BRASIL. Ministério da Agricultura, Pecuária e Abastecimento, 2009. Regras para análise de sementes Brasília: Mapa/ACS, 395 p.
  • FAROOQ, M., WAHID, A., KOBAYASHI, N., FUJITA, D. and BASRA, S.M.A., 2009. Plant drought stress: Effects, mechanisms and management. Agronomy for Sustainable Development, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 135-212. http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/agro:2008021
    » http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/agro:2008021
  • FELIX, F.C., ARAÚJO, F.S., SILVA, M.D., FERRARI, C.S. and PACHECO, M.V., 2018. Estresse hídrico e térmico na germinação de sementes de Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit. Agrária, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 1-7. http://dx.doi.org/10.5039/agraria.v13i2a5515
    » http://dx.doi.org/10.5039/agraria.v13i2a5515
  • FERREIRA, D.F., 2011. Sisvar: a computer statistical analysis system. Ciência e Agrotecnologia, vol. 35, no. 6, pp. 1039-1042. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1413-70542011000600001
    » http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1413-70542011000600001
  • HENRIQUE, I.G., BOSQUEIRO, R.O., KOTSUBO, R.M. and BOTELHO, S.C.C., 2021. Déficit hídrico e a germinação de sementes de híbridos de milho. Nativa, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 240-246. http://dx.doi.org/10.31413/nativa.v9i3.9686
    » http://dx.doi.org/10.31413/nativa.v9i3.9686
  • HERMES, E.C.K., NUNES, J. and NUNES, J.V.D., 2015. Influência do bioestimulante no enraizamento e produtividade da soja. Revista Cultivando o Saber, no. Edição Especial, pp. 35-45.
  • JUNQUEIRA, I.A., DEUS, M.B., NICCHIO, B. and LANA, R.M.Q., 2017. Ação de biorreguladores na qualidade e fisiologia de sementes e plântulas de girassol. Pesquisa Agropecuária Pernambucana, vol. 22, no. 13, e201713. http://dx.doi.org/10.12661/pap.2017.004
    » http://dx.doi.org/10.12661/pap.2017.004
  • JYOTIRMAYEE, B. and MAHALIK, G., 2022. A review on selected pharmacological activities of Curcuma longa L. International Journal of Food Properties, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 1377-1398. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10942912.2022.2082464
    » http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10942912.2022.2082464
  • KERBAUY, G.B., 2013. Fisiologia vegetal 2. ed. Rio de Janeiro: Guanabara Koogan, 446 p.
  • MAGUIRE, J.D., 1962. Speed germination-aid in selection and evaluation for seedling emergence and vigor. Crop Science, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 176-177. http://dx.doi.org/10.2135/cropsci1962.0011183X000200020033x
    » http://dx.doi.org/10.2135/cropsci1962.0011183X000200020033x
  • NEVES, V.S., LOPES, E.A. and FERREIRA, P.A. Uso de produtos e extratos vegetais no controle de nematoides. In: M. VEZON, W.S. NEVES, T.J. PAULA JÚNIOR and A.V. PALLINI, eds. Controle alternativo de pragas e doenças: opção ou necessidade Belo Horizonte: EPAMIG, 2021. p. 118-124.
  • NOBRE, D.A.C., SILVA, A.A., FERNANDES, G.M., SILVA, G.H. and MACEDO, W.R., 2021. Exogenous antioxidants on quality of cabbage seeds. Rodriguésia, vol. 72, pp. 1-7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/2175-7860202172019
    » http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/2175-7860202172019
  • STEINBRECHER, T. and LEUBNER-METZGER, G.T., 2017. The biomechanics of seed germination. Journal of Experimental Botany, vol. 68, no. 4, pp. 765-783. PMid:27927995.
  • TAIZ, L. and ZEIGER, E., 2009. Fisiologia vegetal Porto Alegre: Artmed.
  • THAKUR, P.S., CHATTERJEE, A., RAJPUT, L.S., RANA, S., BHATIA, V. and PRAKASH, S., 2022. Laser biospeckle technique for characterizing the impact of temperature and initial moisture content on seed germination. Optics and Lasers in Engineering, vol. 153, pp. 106999. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.optlaseng.2022.106999
    » http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.optlaseng.2022.106999
  • TOLEDO, F.F. and MARCOS FILHO, J., 1997. Manual de sementes: tecnologia e produção São Paulo: Editora Agronômica Ceres, 224 p.

Publication Dates

  • Publication in this collection
    06 Jan 2023
  • Date of issue
    2022

History

  • Received
    08 July 2022
  • Accepted
    29 Nov 2022
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