The Potential Role of Moringa Leaf Extract as Bio-Stimulant to Improve some Quality Parameters of Different Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) Genotypes
The Potential Role of Moringa Leaf Extract as Bio-Stimulant to Improve some Quality Parameters of Different Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) Genotypes
Arshad Abdulkhalq Yaseen1,2* and Mária Takácsné Hájos1
ABSTRACT
Improving plant quality and increasing the yield, using environmentally friendly products are essential for human health and environmental protection. This research was aimed to assess the possible role of moringa (Moringa oleifera) leaf extract (MLE) in improving some quality parameters of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) grown under plastic tunnel conditions. In this regard, three different lettuce varieties (May King, Kobak and Great Lakes) were grown in spring 2019 and 2020. The concentration of 6% MLE was sprayed as a biostimulant every two weeks from transplanting with the amount of 25 mL plant-1. The results indicated that lettuce vegetation quality (head structure, head weight and root weight) was significantly improved by the use of 6% MLE, where their combination of MLE and plant variety has also improved some of the vegetation quality parameters. However, significantly the morphological quality parameters were least influenced by the plant variety alone. On the other hand, MLE did not significantly impact the bioactive compounds as total polyphenols and vitamin C. However, the treatment of 6% MLE significantly reduced nitrate content in the plant leaves of both experiments by 4% in 2019 and 20% in 2020. In both experiments, the significantly influenced factors on the bioactive compounds (total polyphenols and vitamin C) were mainly due to the plant varieties and the interaction of 6% MLE and plant varieties. In our experiments, physical parameters like relative chlorophyll content, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) were also evaluated. The results indicate that 6% MLE can have a potential role in improving vegetative quality parameters and reducing nitrate content in lettuce leaves, while bioactive compounds were most influenced by plant variety and the interaction of plant variety and foliar application with MLE.
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