Seaweed extracts improve copper uptake of grapevine

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of seaweed extract on macro and micro nutrient uptake of grapevine (Vitis vinifera L. cv. Karaerik). One-year-old grapevine (Vitis vinifera L. cv. Karaerik) saplings were planted in perlite with different nutrient element levels under greenhouse conditions. Three seaweed extracts, Maxicrop, Proton and Algipower, were sprayed on the foliage at different concentrations (0, 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 g l⁻¹). Results indicated that foliar application of seaweed extract increased Cu uptake of grapevine in the growth media which had insufficient nutrient elements. No significant differences in nutrient uptake of grapevine were obtained among the three seaweed extract types. The results showed that nutrient element level of growth media was more effective on stimulation of N, P, K, Ca, Fe, Mg, Mn and Zn uptake than seaweed extracts. In contrast, seaweed extract was more effective in supporting Cu uptake in vines than nutrient element level of growth media.

Keywords:

• ion uptake
• macro element
• micro element
• nutrient availability

Introduction

Application of seaweed extract as an organic biostimulant is fast becoming an accepted practice in horticulture due to its beneficial effects (Verkleij, 1992). A wide range of these effects including increased crop yield, uptake of inorganic constituents from the soil, resistance of plants to frost and stress conditions, reduced incidence of fungal and insect attack, fewer storage losses of fruit, improved seed germination and increased crop quality have been reported from previous studies (Berlyn & Russo, 1990). Seaweed extract, being organic and biodegradable, is important in sustainable agriculture (Cassan et al., 1992), and use of seaweed products in organic farming has widely increased (Rader et al., 1985; Russo & Beryln, 1990). However, Csizinsky (1994a) reported that seaweed extract spray had no beneficial effects on plants at all, and the results obtained could not be repeated according to season, crop, application methods, environmental and stress conditions (Blunden & Wildgoose, 1977; Gupta & MacLeod, 1982; Villers et al., 1983; Temple et al., 1989; Csizinsky, 1994b).

Miller (1996) reported that seaweed had high quantities of amino acids. According to Abetz (1980) it was clear that the mineral content of seaweed was not sufficient to affect plant growth by application of seaweed extracts.

Algae possess a high metal binding capacity whereby the cell wall plays an important role (Kuyucak & Volesky, 1989). Some researchers have also reported that seaweed extracts increase nutrient element uptake of plant under stress and nutrient element deficient conditions (Heckman, 1994; Crouch & Van Staden, 1994). Crouch et al. (1990) demonstrated that seaweed extracts had beneficial effects on ion uptake in optimal conditions.

Kotze & Joubert (1980) reported that Ecklonia maxima foliar sprays on Brassica oleraceae increased Ca uptake. Villiers et al. (1983) reported that foliar application of Agral on apple increased Mn uptake but decreased Zn uptake. In contrast, it was reported that Agral application had no effects on nutrient element uptake on grapevine in the same study.

This study was undertaken to determine the effects of seaweed extracts on plant nutrient element uptake of grapevine from different nutrient element conditions.

Materials and methods

The experiment was conducted with one-year-old grapevine (Vitis vinifera L. cv. Karaerik) saplings and carried out in perlite in 20 cm diameter polyethylene pots, one vine per pot. Four different levels of nutrient elements as a basic fertilizer were applied in the perlite as follows:

1.	M0: non-nutrient element;
2.	M1: 50 ppm N, 50 ppm P, 50 ppm K, 15 ppm Ca, 0.2 ppm Cu, 2 ppm Fe, 15 ppm Mg, 1 ppm Mn, 0.5 ppm Zn;
3.	M2: 100 ppm N, 100 ppm P, 100 ppm K, 30 ppm Ca, 0.5 ppm Cu, 5 ppm Fe, 30 ppm Mg, 2 ppm Mn, 1 ppm Zn;
4.	M3: 150 ppm N, 150 ppm P, 150 ppm K, 45 ppm Ca, 1 ppm Cu, 10 ppm Fe, 45 ppm Mg, 3 ppm Mn, 2 ppm Zn.

In all nutrient solutions, N, P, K, Ca, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn and Zn were supplied in the form of ammonium nitrate (20.5% N), normal superphosphate (18.0% P₂O₅), potassium sulphate (50.0% K₂O), Ca(NO₃)_2, CuSO₄, ferric ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid (Fe-EDTA), MgSO₄, MnSO₄ and ZnSO₄, respectively. Plants were maintained in a heated greenhouse under natural light at a minimum temperature of 10–11°C and maximum of 25–30°C, and a relative humidity of about 30–40%. Day length was 14 h during the experimental period. Three seaweed extracts commercially known as Maxicrop, Proton and Algipower were first sprayed on the foliage two weeks after planting when shoots are 5–6 cm in length. After the first foliar application, seaweed extracts were also sprayed on the foliage three times at 15-day intervals. Seaweed extracts were applied to foliage using elevated concentrations as follows: 0, 0.125 g l⁻¹, 0.25 g l⁻¹ and 0.5 g l⁻¹ with the added surfactant ‘Agral 90′, until it reached 0.5 g l⁻¹, 1.0 g l⁻¹, and 2.0 g l⁻¹ through a total of four applications. The solutions of each treatment group were sprayed to give total cover of leaves of each vine. Only distilled water and surfactant were sprayed for control (Albregts et al., 1988; Csizinsky et al., 1990; Villiers et al., 1983). The experiment was a completely randomised design with three replications per treatment and 4 plants per replicate.

For analysis of mineral uptake, all first mature leaves with petioles were chosen (not randomly) per plant (Marschner, 1995) three months after the first seaweed extract application. Total nitrogen was determined by the micro-Kjeldahl method; P by Vanadomolibdo yellow-colour method spectrophotometrically; and after plant samples were wet-fired with nitric-perchloric acid, K, Ca, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, and Zn analyses were determined using atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AOAC, 1970).

Each pot was considered as a replicate and all of the treatments were repeated three times. All data were subjected to a two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and separations by LSD were performed using (SAS) statistical software (SAS 1982).

Results and discussion

Macro nutrient uptake

Effects of seaweed extract applications and growth media nutrient element levels on supporting macro element uptake in vine were statistically significant. We found that applying seaweed extracts did not stimulate nutrient uptake in vines apart from N, P, K, Ca and Mg uptake in leaves (Table 1). With these elements the mineral uptake increased with increased concentration of extracts. The highest N and Ca contents of leaves were obtained from seaweed extract applications at 1.0 g l⁻¹ concentration in growth media with optimum (M₂) nutrient element levels (Fig. 1). The highest P, K and Mg contents of leaves were achieved when using seaweed extract applications at a level of 1.0 g l⁻¹ concentration, in growth media with higher (M₃) nutrient element levels (Figs. 2 and 3). Our results showed that there were no effects of seaweed extracts on macro element uptake during nutrient stress conditions, but seaweed extracts had important effects on macro element uptake of grapevine at optimum (M₂) or higher (M₃) nutrient element conditions (Table 2).

Fig. 1. Effects of seaweed extract applied at different doses on nitrogen and calcium contents of leaves.

Fig. 2. Effects of seaweed extract applied at different doses on phosphorus and potassium contents of leaves.

Fig. 3. Effects of seaweed extract applied at different doses on magnesium contents of leaves.

Table 1. ANOVA for macro and micro element contents of vine leaves including interactions

S.V	df	Ca	Cu	Fe	K	Mg	Mn	N	P	Zn
Seaweed extract doses (SED)	3	60.8 *	941.0*	265.9*	432.1*	41.2*	327.8*	494.8*	86.0*	686.2*
Seaweed extract (SE)	2	2.63 ns	0.3 ns	0.36 ns	3.81 ns	1.9 ns	0.6 ns	2.7 ns	1.1 ns	2.2 ns
Growth media nutrition level (GMNL)	3	37.7 *	439.7*	277.1*	86.3*	57.4*	68.6*	594.5*	123.5*	1070*
SED×SE	6	3.1 ns	1.2 ns	3.2 ns	5.4 ns	1.2 ns	1.4 ns	5.1 ns	1.9 ns	2.3 ns
SED×GMNL	9	3.2 *	35.9*	21.3*	10.8*	9.2	3.9*	39.2*	4.4*	67.4*
SE×GMNL	6	0.3 ns	2.9 ns	5.1 ns	3.2 ns	0.1 ns	2.8 ns	2.5 ns	1.3 ns	0.6 ns
SED×SE×GMNL	18	1.6 ns	2.4 ns	4.7 ns	2.4 ns	1.3 ns	1.7 ns	4.2 ns	1.8 ns	1.1 ns
Error	96
*: P<0.01 significant, ns: non-significant

Table 2. LSD test result for means values of macro and micro element contents of grapevine leaves in different growth media

		Ca	Cu	Fe	K	Mg	Mn	N	P	Zn
GMNL	SE	%	mg kg^−1	mg kg^−1	%	%	mg kg^−1	%	%	mg kg^−1
M0	Maxicrop	2.66	16.7	70.3	1.98	0.40	44.8	2.17	0.22	26.6
	Proton	2.56	15.9	72.5	2.00	0.45	48.0	2.15	0.22	24.7
	Algipower	2.54	18.9	72.8	2.16	0.46	51.0	2.09	0.21	27.2
	Mean	2.59 c*	17.2 c	71.8 d	2.05 c	0.44 c	47.9 c	2.1 c	0.21 c	26.1 d
M1	Maxicrop	2.86	28.7	82.9	2.43	0.46	52.1	3.07	0.23	32.7
	Proton	2.74	31.9	81.9	2.85	0.50	55.3	2.99	0.23	33.3
	Algipower	2.74	29.4	90.6	2.53	0.52	54.8	2.78	0.23	33.8
	Mean	2.78 b	30.0 b	85.1 c	2.61 b	0.50 c	54.1 b	2.9 b	0.23 b	33.3 c
M2	Maxicrop	3.13	40.9	105.3	2.54	0.66	62.8	3.61	0.29	61.4
	Proton	2.98	39.7	103.8	2.83	0.67	60.4	3.48	0.29	62.5
	Algipower	2.95	39.2	99.1	2.71	0.66	61.3	3.37	0.27	63.8
	Mean	3.02 a	39.9 a	102.8 b	2.69 ab	0.66 b	61.5 a	3.5 a	0.29 a	62.6 a
M3	Maxicrop	2.98	38.9	103.2	2.63	0.72	57.9	3.02	0.30	57.8
	Proton	2.86	37.8	109.0	2.94	0.80	63.2	2.97	0.29	58.7
	Algipower	2.93	39.3	112.3	2.74	0.79	59.8	2.99	0.30	58.9
	Mean	2.92 a	38.7 a	108.1 a	2.77 a	0.77 a	60.3	3.0 b	0.30 a	58.5 b
	LSD	0.114	1.860	3.713	0.131	0.559	3.017	0.084	0.014	2.058
*: Means in columns followed by a different letter differ significantly, GMNL: Growth media nutrient level.
SE: Seaweed extract.
M0: Non-nutrient element.
M1: 50 ppm N, 50 ppm P, 50 ppm K, 15 ppm Ca, 0,2 ppm Cu, 2 ppm Fe, 15 ppm Mg, 1 ppm Mn, 0.5 ppm Zn.
M2: 100 ppm N, 100 ppm P, 100 ppm K, 30 ppm Ca, 0.5 ppm Cu, 5 ppm Fe, 30 ppm Mg, 2 ppm Mn, 1 ppm Zn.
M3: 150 ppm N, 150 ppm P, 150 ppm K, 45 ppm Ca, 1 ppm Cu, 10 ppm Fe, 3 ppm Mn, 45 ppm Mg, 2 ppm Zn.

Our results confirm previous reports by Crouch et al. (1990) who noted that in nutrient element deficient conditions, seaweed extracts had no effect on ion uptake of lettuce, but at optimum nutrition levels of Mg, K and Ca, uptake increased notably by lettuce. Also Kotze & Joubert (1980) and Nelson & Van Staden (1984) had similar findings to our results.

Micro nutrient uptake

With regard to micro element uptakes, seaweed extract improved uptake by the vines. Our results also showed that no differences in stimulating micro element uptake among the seaweed extract types occurred.

Iron plant uptake was stimulated using seaweed extract applications at 2.0 g l⁻¹ concentration and growth media with a higher nutrient element level (M₃). Zn uptake of grapevine was highest using a seaweed extract application of 2.0 g l⁻¹ concentration and optimum (M₂) nutrient element conditions (Fig. 4). Mn uptake was highest at optimum nutrient element conditions (M₂) and 2.0 g l⁻¹ seaweed extract application. The effectiveness of seaweed extracts on Cu uptake was higher than growth media nutrient element levels (Fig. 5). Influences of seaweed extracts on Cu uptake could be due to increasing membrane permeability of roots, leaves and stoma cells, and hormone-like activities of the seaweed extract through their involvement in cell respiration, photosynthesis, and various enzymatic reactions (Guiry & Blunden, 1991; Verkleij, 1992).

Fig. 4. Effects of seaweed extract applied at different doses on iron and zinc contents of leaves.

Fig. 5. Effects of seaweed extract applied at different doses on manganese and copper contents of leaves.

Conclusion

Seaweed extracts increase N, P, K, Ca, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn and Zn uptake at optimum nutrient element conditions, while at limited nutrient levels in plant growth media seaweed extracts improve only Cu uptake. Seaweed extracts are recommended for use in vine cultivation on soils of with low or adequate nutrient elemental levels, since its use improves mineral uptake.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Metin Turan

Turan, M. and Köse, C. (Soil Department, and Horticulture Department, Agriculture Faculty, Atatürk University, TR-25240 Erzurum, Turkey). Seaweed extracts improve copper uptake of grapevine. Accepted April 7, 2004.

Notes

Turan, M. and Köse, C. (Soil Department, and Horticulture Department, Agriculture Faculty, Atatürk University, TR-25240 Erzurum, Turkey). Seaweed extracts improve copper uptake of grapevine. Accepted April 7, 2004.