Effects of Chlorella extracts on growth of Capsicum annuum L. seedlings

Abstract

The long-term application of chemical fertilizers has caused to the farmland soil compaction, water pollution, and reduced the quality of vegetable to some extent. So, its become a trend in agriculture to find new bio-fertilizers. Chlorella extract is rich in amino acids, peptides, nucleic acids, growth hormones, potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc ions, vitamin E, B1, B2, C, B6, folic acid, free biotin and chlorophyll. Chlorella extract can promote biological growth, mainly by stimulating the speed of cell division, thereby accelerating the proliferation rate of cells and playing a role in promoting plant growth. Whether Chlorella extract can be used to improve the growth of pepper (Capsicum annuum), needs to be verified. In current study, a pepper variety 'Chao Tian Jiao' was used as experiment material, by determining the changes of the related characteristics after spraying the seedlings with Chlorella extract, and its effect on growth of Capsicum annuum plants was investigated. The results showed that the Chlorella extract significantly increased plant height of pepper seedlings (treatment: 32.2 ± 0.3 cm; control: 24.2 ± 0.2 cm), stem diameter (treatment: 0.57 ± 0.02 cm; control: 0.41 ± 0.03 cm) and leaf area (treatment: 189.6 ± 3.2 cm2; control: 145.8 ± 2.5 cm2). Particularly, the pepper seedlings treated with Chlorella extract, developed the root system in better way, significantly increased the chlorophyll a, and the activities of SOD, POD and CAT enzymes were also improved significantly. Based on our results, we can speculate that it is possible to improve the growth of Capsicum annuum seedlings and reduce the application of chemical fertilizers in pepper production by using Chlorella extract.

Influence of organic liquid fertilizer developed from livestock manure on the growth, antioxidant activities, and soil microbial populations of Chinese cabbage

“…Furthermore, the total content of phenolics, avonoids, and glucosinolates in broccoli were increased by the additional application of organic fertilizers [51]. Chlorella extracts have been shown to promote plant growth in pepper (Capsicum annuum) plants [52]. For example, plant height, leaf area, and fruit and shoot weights of pepper plants were increased after supplying Chlorella extracts for 21 days compared to the control.…”

Plant Growth Promotion, Phytohormone Production and Genomics of the Rhizosphere-Associated Microalga, Micractinium rhizosphaerae sp. nov.

“…Additionally, recent work has demonstrated that microalgae are important members of the plant microbiome and may greatly impact plant growth, development, and stress resistance [ 11 ]. Several reports have demonstrated that not only cyanobacteria, but also eukaryotic microalgae such as members of the Chlorellaceae family are able to promote the growth of several crop plants (e.g., tomato, wheat, soybean, pepper) [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ], and this is accomplished using microalgae cell cultures or extracts and diverse plant inoculation strategies (e.g., foliar or soil application) [ 11 ]. Chlorella cell-free supernatants can also reduce the onset of shoot and flower senescence with potential benefits for increasing flower shelf-life [ 16 ].…”

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“…In the study by Sh.L. Tian et al (2022), the effect of Chlorella vulgaris Beijer extract on the growth of Capsicum annuum plants of the "Chao Tian Jiao" variety was investigated. Two weeks after transplanting into pots, the seedlings of the experimental groups were sprayed with Chlorella extracts.…”