Alleviation of Poor Growth Eggplant under Newly Reclaimed Land by Foliar Application of Biostimulators and Micronutrients

Abstract

To investigate the response of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) grown under newly reclaimed land to foliar application of ascorbic acid (200 and 400 mg/L), salicylic acid (100 and 200 mg/L), molybdenum (5 mg/L) and boron (200 mg/L), the present study was conducted at the Experimental Station of the National Research Centre, Noubaria, Behaira Governorate, Egypt, during 2007 and 2008 seasons. The results indicated that, different treatments induced increments regarding yield and yield components (no of fruits, average fruit weight (g), early yield (g/plant) and total yield (g/plant) compared to controls. Also, fruit characteristics expressed as fruit length, (cm), fruit diameter (cm), fruit fresh and dry weight (g) were increased significantly in response to different applied treatment compared with untreated plants. In addition, the result showed an increase in carbohydrate, total phenols, acidity, anthocyanin, tannin, ascorbic acid and minerals as N, K, Ca and Fe content of the yielded fruits compared with control plants. This study reveals that foliar spray of eggplant with ascorbic acid (vitamin C), salicylic acid (SA), Mo or B could be effectively increase productivity of plants and improve chemical constituent of the yielded fruits.