Investigating the effect of activated carbon on the distribution of boron in different organs of tomato and eggplant plants under boron stress

Abstract

Boron toxicity in arid and semi-arid soils is principally due to the high concentration of boron in irrigation water. This study aimed to investigate the effect of activated carbon on the concentration and distribution of boron in different plant organs, a factorial experiment in a completely randomized design under greenhouse conditions. Treatments included plant type (tomato and eggplant), activated carbon at four levels (zero, 1, 2 and 3%) and boron at three levels (zero, 2.5 and 5 mg L⁻¹). The experiment was conducted with 24 experimental treatments in three replications and a total of 72 experimental units. The results showed that increasing levels of boron in irrigation water increased the concentration of boron in different organs of plants. With study the interactions between plant type, different levels of boron and activated carbon, it was found that application of activated carbon at higher levels of boron in irrigation water had more effect on reducing the boron concentration in tomato leaf. Adding 3% of activated carbon to 5 mg boron per liter of irrigation water reduced boron concentration in tomato leaf by 65% compared to control. The results show the efficacy of using activated carbon in reducing boron toxicity in plants in high concentrations of boron in irrigation water.

Keywords:

• Activated carbon
• boron toxicity
• irrigation water
• vegetables

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).