Open Access

ARTICLE

Inoculation of Chlorella and Food Waste Improves the Physio-Morphological Features of Red Pepper by Regulating Activating Antioxidant Defense System

by Sang-Mo Kang^1,#, Shifa Shaffique^1,#, Muhammad Imran^2,#, Su-Mi Jeon³, Shabir Hussain Wani⁵, Muhammad Aaqil Khan⁴, Peter Odongkara¹, Eun-Hae Kwon¹, Yosep Kang¹, Joon-Ik Son⁶, Won-Chan Kim^1,*, In-Jung Lee^1,*

1 Department of Applied Biosciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, 41566, Korea
2 Biosafety Division, National Institute of Agriculture Science, Rural Development Administration, Jeonju, 54874, Korea
3 Department of Technical Support, Daegu City Agricultural Technology Center, Daegu, 41159, Korea
4 Department of Chemical and Life Sciences, Qurtuba University of Science and Information Technology, Peshawar, Pakistan
5 Mountain Research for Field Crops Khudwani, Shere-e-Kashmir University of Agriculture Sciences and Technology Srinagar, Jamu and Kashmir, India
6 Corporate Affiliated Research Institute, Seyen Co., Ltd., Kyungsan, 38561, Korea

* Corresponding Authors: Won-Chan Kim. Email: ; In-Jung Lee. Email:
# These authors equally contribute to this work

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Comprehensive Effects of Biochar or other Additives after Applied to Agricultural and Forest Soils)

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2023, 92(9), 2699-2711. https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2023.028224

Received 08 December 2022; Accepted 28 February 2023; Issue published 28 July 2023

Abstract

Food waste is recognized as a valuable source for potential agricultural applications to supply organic matter and nutrients to arable soil. However, the information on the combined application of food waste and the plant growth-promoting bacterial strain, Chlorella, related to plant metabolic features and sodium chloride content in arable soil is limited. The present study was conducted to investigate the exogenous application of food waste along with Chlorella, which improved the physio-morphological features of red pepper. Our results revealed that this combination enhanced the organic matter in the soil, ultimately improving the fertility rate of the soil, and the physio-morphological features, such as chlorophyll a content (24.5 ± 0.7), root (7.8 ± 0.7) cm and shoot length (12.1 ± 0.7) cm, fresh weight (2.1 ± 0.05) g, dry weight (0.19 ± 0.05) g, mineral contents, and hormonal concentration (ABA by up to 2 folds). The combined treatment also minimized free radicals via the activation of the intrinsic antioxidant series cascade and electrolyte leakage. Our findings showed that adding Chlorella and food wastes improved growth characteristics and can be used as a green bio-fertilizer for sustainable agriculture.

---

Keywords

---