Effect of foliar organic fertilization and some biostimulants on growth and productivity of chia (Salvia hispanica L.) plant.

Abstract

Chia (Salvia hispanica L) is very appreciated for its oleaginous seeds in the agri-food field. Chia seeds are natural sources of many bioactive compounds which provide benefits to human health. Chia seeds are a promising source of antioxidants owing to their content of omega-3 and the presence of polyphenols, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, myricetin, quercetin, and kaempferol. The study was conducted on chia (Salvia hispanica L.) plants at a private farm of Sekem Company, located in El-Sharkia Governorate, Egypt, throughout the two consecutive seasons of (2022/2023) and (2023/2024). In this study, to improve vegetative growth, seed yield, chemical constituents, fixed oil productivity, and fixed oil composition of chia (Salvia hispanica L.) plants, some biostimulants and organic fertilizer were applied exogenously to chia plants. After 45 days from sowing, plants were sprayed with different doses of Karni as an organic fertilizer and Daltons NZ as a biostimulant in addition to the interaction treatments. The results showed that different doses of biostimulant and/or organic fertilizer significantly increased the vegetative growth and yield of chia plants. The results also indicated that the highest values of plant height (125cm), number of inflorescences (27 inflorescences/plant), seed yield (12.32 g/plant, 591.4 kg/fed.), and fixed oil yield (49.74 L/fed.) of S. hispanica were recorded with Karni 1.4 mL/L and Daltons NZ 0.4 mL/L. The major components were α-linolenic acid (59.33 to 62.70%), linoleic acid (16.03 to 18.45%), palmitic acid (6.99 to 8.63%), oleic acid (5.03 to 6.44%), and stearic acid (2.41 to 3.71%). It is concluded that Karni 1.4 mL/L and Daltons NZ 0.4 mL/L can be used to improve the vegetative growth and fixed oil productivity of chia plants.