Vegetable and fruit wastes: Valuable source for organic fertilizer for effective growth of short-term crops: Solanum lycopersicum and Capsicum annum

Environ Res. 2024 Mar 13:118727. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2024.118727. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTAgriculture plays a vital role in the food security and economies of Asian countries. Annually, numerous metric tons of vegetable and fruit wastes are disposed of. This research aimed to convert the food wastes encompassing the vegetable and fruit wastes into solid and liquid organic fertilizer and to evaluate their influence on the growth (germination, phytochemicals, and biomolecules) of Solanum lycopersicum and Capsicum annum. Solanum lycopersicum, known as tomato, and Capsicum annum, known as bell pepper or chili pepper, are globally significant crops valued for their medicinal properties and economic importance. The pot experiment was performed with organic fertilizers (solid and liquid organic fertilizer) and compared with the influence of chemical fertilizer and control soil without fertilizers. Interestingly, the liquid organic fertilizer effectively enhanced the biometric profile and chlorophyll content of S. lycopersicum and C. annum Viz., 1.23 mg g-1 and 0.89 mg g-1, respectively. The results of a 30-day pot experiment with various fertilizer treatments showed significant influence of liquid organic fertilizer on the fresh and dry weight biomass of both S. lycopersicum and C. annum. Subsequently, the solid organic fertilizer showed considerable influence on test crops, and the influence of these organic fertilizers was more significant than the chemical fertilizer on c...
Source: Environmental Research - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Source Type: research