Effect of 28-homobrassinolide and 24-epibrassinolide on the growth, productivity and nutritional value of two faba bean (Vicia faba L.) cultivars

Abstract

Growth, yield, and chemical composition responses of two faba bean cultivars due to foliar application of 28-homobrassinolide (HBR) and 24-epibrassinolide (EBR) were studied in two field experiments conducted at the Experimental Farm of Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University at Giza, Egypt, during 2003/2004 and 2004/2005. The application of 0.10 mg l⁻¹ EBR improved the growth characters and yield of the two cultivars over the control. Treatment with 0.05 mg l⁻¹ EBR and 0.50 mg l⁻¹ HBR stimulated plant growth and productivity but less effectively than treatment with 0.10 mg l⁻¹ EBR. This increment was more pronounced in Sakha 1 cultivar as compared with Giza 40 cultivar. Application of 0.10 mg l⁻¹ EBR gave, along with a 28% rise in productivity of Sakha 1 cultivar and 21.8% rise in productivity of Giza 40 cultivar, a better quality of yield with regard to an enhancement in the concentration of N, P, K, Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu, protein, and total carbohydrates. These considerable effects of EBR and HBR on plant development and yield promotion, together with the environmentally safe aspects of these compounds, would mark a major development in the field of plant growth regulators, and would minimize the risks associated with agrochemicals by reducing environmental contamination.

Keywords:

• faba bean cultivars
• brassinosteriods
• 28-homobrassinolide
• 24-epibrassinolide