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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Antioxidant compounds and minerals in tomatoes by Trichodermaenriched biofertilizer and their relationship with the soil
environments
Md. Yeakub Khan1*, Md. Manjurul Haque1*, Abul Hossain Molla1, Md. Mizanur Rahman2, Mohammad
Zahangeer Alam1
1
Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Bangabandhu Sheikh MujiburRahman Agricultural University,
Gazipur 1706, Bangladesh
2
Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Bangabandhu Sheikh MujiburRahman Agricultural University, Gazipur 1706,
Bangladesh
Abstract
The experiment was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of Trichoderma-enriched biofertilizer (BioF/compost) on antioxidants
and minerals in ripe tomatoes and soil health improvements in terms of nutrient availability and microbial populations. The
study was comprised of six treatments: control (zero input); recommended doses of NPK; 100% BioF/compost; 75% BioF/
compost+25% N; 50% BioF/compost+50% N; and 25% BioF/compost+75% N. The recommended doses of P and K were
used in the last three treatments. It was found that the application of 100% BioF/compost enhanced plant growth, leaf
greenness, and produced 12.9% higher yield compared to the recommended doses of NPK and other treatments. Mineral
contents (P, K, Ca, Mg, Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn) in tomato roots, shoots and fruits and antioxidant compounds i.e., ascorbic
acid, -carotine, and lycopene were increased significantly in fruits fertilized with 100% BioF/compost. The high efficiency
of Trichoderma compost might be the result of its potential of nutrient solubilization and harboring soil microorganisms.
Collectively, BioF/compost increased soil fertility and favored growth of microbes in the rhizosphere which ultimately contributed to higher yield, antioxidant, and mineral concentrations in tomatoes. Thus, Trichoderma-enriched biofertilizer may
reduce application of chemical fertilizers and therefore, can be considered as a noble practice in sustainable agriculture.
Keywords: Trichoderma harzianum T22, minerals,.antioxidants, nutrient availability, microbial populations
1. Introduction
The application of chemical fertilizer is the accepted method of intensive agriculture despite the apprehension of
environmental pollution. Movement of nitrogen (N) and
phosphorus (P) from agricultural fields to surface water
may cause eutrophication of aquatic ecosystems, leading
to anoxic areas called dead zones (Simpson et al. 2011).
Application of P fertilizers can also introduce cadmium into
the soil and, thereby, to the crops (Rembiakowska 2007).
Soil
Biofertilizer
6.20
11.40
0.89
5.37
0.30
5.78
78.00
13.60
7.9
0.42
0.83105
2.23109
Ci
(StLs)
Cs
45
(0.0890)=135.5
0.09
Table 2 Soil test interpretation (STVI) class and the respective recommended fertilizer nutrients for tomato (BARC 2012)
STVI Class
Very low
Low
Medium
Optimum
High
Very high
Total N (%)
00.09
0.091018
0.1810.27
0.2710.36
0.3610.45
>0.45
3. Results
3.1. Plant growth and yield
Treatments comprising BioF/compost and inorganic fertilizers showed significant effects on yield and yield contributing characters of tomato (Table 3). Number of leaves
plant1 (115.89) was found significantly higher (P0.05)
in 100% BioF/compost treatment compared to the 100%
recommended doses of NPK treatment, while plant height,
number of branches plant1 and dry matter weight (root and
shoot) plant1 and fruit yield of tomato plant1 were found
statistically similar in these two treatments (Table 3). It
was assumed that the increment of root biomass enabled
plants to explore in a greater volume of soil for nutrient
acquisition and amplified the plants ability for nutrients
uptake resulting in higher growth. Sole application of BioF/
compost, 75% BioF/compost coupled with 25% N and 50%
BioF/compost along with 50% N gave 12.9, 1.9 and 2.59%
higher yields, respectively over the recommended doses of
NPK, while 25% BioF/compost plus 75% N caused 15.8%
decrease in yield compared to the recommended fertilizer
treatment (Table 3). This implied that BioF/compost alone
could be a supplementary strategy for increasing yield and
for reducing the fertilizer pollution. Our pair wise correlation
analysis based on Pearson correlation coefficient revealed
that yield of tomato is positively and significantly correlated with the number of branches (0.900**; P0.01), leaves
(0.701*; (P0.05), roots (0.684*), and shoots (0.762**) dry
weight plant1.
Table 3 Growth and yield of tomato by Trichoderma-enriched biofertilizer (BioF/compost) alone or in combination with reduced
rates of nitrogen
Treatments1)
T1
T2
T3
T4
T5
T6
CV (%)
10.930.07 d
18.730.62 abc
20.530.25 a
20.070.16 ab
17.400.29 bc
15.731.02 c
9.69
Leaves (No.
plant1)
67.111.17 d
94.890.36 b
115.890.77 a
92.003.5 bc
86.110.97 bc
80.222.35 c
8.05
1)
T1, control, without BioF/compost and NPK; T2, recommended dose of NPK; T3, 100% BioF/compost; T4, 75% BioF/compost+25% N;
T5, 50% BioF/compost+50% N; T6, 25% BioF/compost+75% N.
Data are meansstandard error. Different letters in column imply significant difference at P0.05.
The same as below.
A
60
SPAD value
55
50
45
40
T1
T2
T3
T4
T5
T6
35
30
40
50
60
70
80
DAT
B
12
10
Chlorophyll a
Chlorophyll b
b
Carotinoid
a
ab
b
mg g1
ab
ab
ab
c
ab
a
abc
4
bc
c
2
0
T1
T2
T3
T4
T5
T6
Treatments
Fig. 1 Chlorophyll content of tomato leaves. A, measurement of chlorophyll content by single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD)
meter at different days after transplanting (DAT). B, chlorophyll contents determined biochemically at 80 DAT. T1, control, without
BioF/compost and NPK; T2, recommended dose of NPK; T3, 100% BioF/compost; T4, 75% BioF/compost+25% N; T5, 50% BioF/
compost+50% N; T6, 25% BioF/compost+75% N. Error bar indicates standard error. Different letters in column imply significant
difference at P0.05.
49.660.12 f
49.81.03 c
56.310.24 c
54.600.26 ab
62.260.14 a
56.960.161 a
60.100.24 b
51.510.20 bc
62.190.07a
49.520.19 c
51.520.19 e
48.570.18 c
0.74
3.26
22.850.05 a
27.720.11 b
27.650.17 a
29.080.212 a
23.140.19 a
29.910.18 a
22.010.16 a
23.820.07c
24.150.07 a
27.030.02 b
25.510.17 a
24.690.28 c
10.16
1.63
Mn
Fe
(mg kg1)
36.850.2 e
195.850.22 f
38.950.02 bc
202.940.02 d
39.500.31 c
215.300.35 c
41.980.008 a
221.440.23 b
43.600.2 a
235.850.3 a
42.290.08 a
237.630.15 a
38.360.38 d
234.300.18 a
37.990.004 d
214.780.08 c
41.700.37 b
199.450.2 e
38.750.1 c
237.320.13 a
33.700.33 f
207.850.08 d
39.300.12 b
202.180.33 d
0.74
0.34
0.45
0.73
0.390.01 e
0.470.01 c
0.650.01 d
0.730.008 b
0.780.01 b
0.850.002 a
0.700.01 cd
0.710.006 b
0.730.01 c
0.790.006 a
0.900.01 a
0.730.002 b
2.61
3.01
CV (%)
T6
T5
T4
T3
T2
1)
9.540.09 c
9.350.4 d
12.860.18 a
12.810.06 a
12.300.20 a
11.510.16 b
12.760.14 a
10.530.16 c
10.050.03 c
8.720.18 d
10.420.17 bc
11.060.05 bc
6.89
2.38
Roots
Shoots
Roots
Shoots
Roots
Shoots
Roots
Shoots
Roots
Shoots
Roots
Shoots
Roots
Shoots
1.140.01 d
1.340.05 b
2.110.004 a
2.160.008 a
2.070.05 a
2.250.008 a
1.650.02 b
2.060.05 a
1.140.004 d
2.230.02 a
1.070.002 e
2.140.05 a
0.75
7.92
4.210.08 d
3.980.01 d
4.510.01 b
4.250.05 c
5.010.04 a
4.610.008 a
4.000.01 f
3.900.008 e
5.050.01 a
4.240.008 c
4.170.06 e
4.350.004 b
0.23
0.55
Ca
Mg
Cu
T1
TSS did not differ significantly among the treatments (Table 5). As expected, protein (17.17%) content was significantly (P0.05) higher in T2 treatment, followed by T6, T3, T4
and T5 (Table 5). Total sugar content was decreased in T2
treatment (38.9 g kg1) compared to the T3 treatment (40.8 g
kg1). Ascorbic acid content (122.3 mg kg1) was significantly
(P0.05) higher in ripe tomato fruits fertilized with 100%
BioF/compost, followed by plants receiving the recommended doses of NPK (110.79 mg kg1). -carotene, a precursor
of vitamin A, was also found significantly (P0.05) higher
in T3 treatment (1.10 mg kg1), followed by treatments T1
(0.60 mg kg1) and T5 (0.60 mg kg1). However, the lowest
-carotene (0.20 mg kg1) was detected in treatments T2,
T4 and T6 (Table 5). The lycopene content is not only antioxidant but also the main factor on which the red color of
tomatoes depends on. It was significantly (P0.05) higher
in treatment T2 (0.70 mg kg1), followed by the treatments
P
(%)
0.090.13 e
0.170.004 e
0.190.01a
0.230.004 b
0.210.01 a
0.270.004 a
0.120.004 d
0.180.004 de
0.190.02 a
0.200.004 c
0.180.001 b
0.190.004 cd
3.73
2.73
Categories1)
Treatments
Zn
Table 4 Effect of Trichoderma-enriched biofertilizer (BioF/compost) and nitrogen fertilizer on the concentration of minerals in roots and shoots of tomato
Table 5 Sugar, protein and antioxidant contents in ripe tomato fruits as influenced by Trichoderma-enriched biofertilizer (BioF/
compost) alone or in combination with reduced rates of N
Treatments
T1
T2
T3
T4
T5
T6
CV (%)
Total soluble
solid
5.070.009
4.700.025
4.960.009
4.900.006
4.850.09
4.750.012
3.75
Protein
(%)
10.080.04 c
17.170.04 a
13.860.08 b
13.150.14 b
11.260.14 c
14.410.14 b
4.31
Reducing sugar
(g kg1)
16.40.012 c
20.70.018 a
21.70.006 a
18.70.018 abc
20.40.038 ab
17.50.006 bc
6.16
Total sugar
(g kg1)
34.40.01 c
38.90.03 b
40.80.05 a
34.80.03 c
41.30.04 a
34.80.02 c
1 .79
17.75
12.66
Zn
( mg kg1)
1.070.013 e
1.280.003 ab
1.340.006 a
1.180.005 cd
1.20.006 bc
1.110.005 de
1.10
3.22
K
( c-mol kg1)
0.290.003
0.330.008
0.310.003
0.280.01
0.300.018
0.310.025
0.30
3.12
Available P
( mg kg1)
4.830.045 d
6.680.003 b
7.610.003 a
6.690.01 b
6.670.003 b
5.740.006 c
5.37
4.14
Total N
(kg1)
0.90.001 d
1.80.002 a
1.60.001 b
1.40.002 bc
1.40.0008 bc
1.60.002 b
0.89
2.67
T1
T2
T3
T4
T5
T6
Pre-soil
CV (%)
6.260.01
6.220.01
6.340.01
6.240.01
6.290.01
6.360.01
6.20
0.20
Organic matter
(g kg1)
11.00.01 de
13.20.003 ab
14.40.005 a
12.90.005 bc
11.90.033 cd
11.40.005 de
11.4
3.73
pH
0.270.002 d
0.520.007 b
0.600.016 a
0.300.008 d
0.510.004 b
0.440.004 c
5.93
0.870.016 c
1.100.016 b
1.540.005 a
1.110.004 b
1.510.005 a
0.940.016 c
5.12
3.940.004 b
4.130.014 b
4.720.047 a
3.640.007 c
4.580.032 a
3.620.027 c
1.98
1.670.01 f
2.800.008 a
2.290.007 c
2.050.01 d
1.920.008 e
2.420.008 b
0.24
T1
T2
T3
T4
T5
T6
CV (%)
Treatments
81.780.17 ab
75.350.66 ab
103.16 0.40 a
55.630.24 b
57.600.22 b
58.230.60 b
4.18
21.360.16 c
25.340.10 d
17.570.24 b
15.910.39 f
27.690.18 b
29.650.14 a
2.13
Zn
Mn
Fe
(mg kg1)
29.670.15 d
140.250.47 e
42.000.11 ab
173.150.24 c
44.2 0.51 a
241.730.17 a
38.360.35 bc
141.950.02 e
41.900.38 ab
200.680.59 b
36.150.22 c
202.760.44 b
3.71
1.01
Cu
Mg
Ca
K
P
(%)
0.050.001 b
0.060.001 b
0.120.002 a
0.050.004 b
0.100.004 a
0.060.001 b
9.84
Total N
Treatments
Table 6 Minerals and essential trace elements in ripe tomato fruits by Trichoderma-enriched biofertilizer (BioF/compost) alone or in combination with reduced rates of N
Table 7 Nutrients and microbial populations in rhizospheric soils as influenced by Trichoderma-enriched biofertilizer (BioF/compost) alone or in combination with reduced rates of N
10
4. Discussion
In this study, we found that exclusive use of BioF/
compost increased yield of tomato (cv. BARI
tomato 15). Crop productivity was also shown to
have increased up to 300% after addition of T. hamatum or T. koningii under field conditions (Chet
et al. 1997). Increased yields in several crops,
such as cucumber (Altintas and Bal 2005), sugarcane (Srivastava et al. 2006), mustard (Haque
et al. 2010), rice (Banayo et al. 2012), wheat
(Sharma et al. 2012), and soybean (Abudulai
et al. 2014) were reported from the application of
Trichoderma spp. Conversely, Molla et al. (2012)
reported that the sole application of BioF/compost
as recommended by suppliers produced 30.08%
lower yield of tomato (cv. BARI tomato 14) than
the recommended doses of NPK. However, the
beneficial effect of T. atroviride and T. harzianum
on tomato was reported to be modulated by plant
genotype (Tucci et al. 2010). Thus, the efficiency of BioF/compost may depend on variety of
tomato and amount of BioF/compost used in the
experiment.
We conducted our experiment in a low fertile
field condition (Table 2) and found that the vegetative growth (except number of leaves) and dry matter weight plant1 were indistinguishable between
100% BioF/compost and recommended doses of
NPK treatment (Table 3). Thus, BioF/compost
may promote growth of plants in low fertile field
conditions too. Application of BioF/compost may
make the soil environment suitable for microbial
growth and nutrient solubility. Biofertilizer can restore the inherent potential of soil to be productive
through nutrient cycling and enhancing nutrient
and carbon stock in soil. Therefore, Trichoderma
brings multiple benefits which are altogether positively contributes towards soil fertility improvement
and ultimately promotes plant growth and productivity. Superior plant growth by Trichoderma spp.
was reported to be correlated to the production
of secondary metabolites (e.g., harzianic acid),
phytohormones (e.g., harzianolide, indole acetic
acid), the solubilization of sparingly soluble minerals including Fe2O3, MnO2, CuO, Zn, and rock
P, the promotion of water and mineral uptake, the
induction of systemic resistance in the host plant,
a reduction in pollutant toxicity, and the regulation
11
Table 8 Pearson correlations between the soil nutrients and microbial populations in rhizosphere and minerals and antioxidants
in ripe tomatoes
Total N
P
K
Zn
Fungi
Bacteria
*
Antioxidant compounds
Ascorbic acid -carotine Lycopene
N
P
0.476
0.272
0.138
0.767** 0.319
0.881**
0.355
0.200
0.593* 0.338
0.113
0.237
0.181 0.001 0.537
0.583*
0.507
0.354
0.962** 0.155
*
0.633
0.483
0.010
0.213 0.429
0.739**
0.402
0.309
0.409 0.142
Minerals
K
Ca
Mg
Cu
0.223
0.756** 0.716**
0.307
0.561
0.426 0.023 0.197
0.116 0.111 0.082
0.057
0.115
0.665* 0.544
0.376
0.387
0.076 0.100 0.168
0.022
0.121
0.133
0.300
Fe
0.384
0.701*
0.013
0.455
0.498
0.695*
Mn
0.269
0.446
0.113
0.260
0.364
0.049
Zn
0.129
0.363
0.341
0.301
0.251
0.382
12
5. Conclusion
In this experiment, exclusive use of Trichoderma-enriched
biofertilizer (BioF/compost) increased not only the plant
growth and yield but also increased the antioxidant compounds (e.g., ascorbic acid, -carotene and lycopene) and
minerals in roots, shoots and fruits. Moreover, BioF/compost
increased soil fertility and stimulated microbial growth in the
rhizosphere. Thus, BioF/compost may reduce application
of chemical fertilizers and therefore, can be considered as
a noble practice in sustainable agriculture.
Acknowledgements
We thank Patrick M. Freeze, Washington State University,
USA and Md. Moinul Hossain Oliver, Bangabandhu Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University (BSMRAU), Bangladesh for their carefully reading and correcting the language.
The work was supported by internal grants of Bangabandhu
Sheikh MujiburRahman Agricultural University (BSMRAU),
Gazipur, Bangladesh. We also thank Natore Development
Society (NDS) and M/S RASH Agro Enterprise, Natore,
Bangladesh for the gift of the Trichoderma-enriched biofertilizer (BioF/compost).
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