Effect of zinc on germination and early development of lettuce CV. Mimosa meadow

Abstract

The Micronutrients perform numerous metabolic functions, and the deficiency of minerals such as zinc is considered a worldwide public health problem. The evolution of knowledge about the importance of micronutrients has increased the interest in obtaining foods capable of fully meeting human nutritional needs. Agronomic biofortification of food emerges as part of the solution to this problem, contributing to the supply of micronutrients. For this experiment lettuce was chosen because it is one of the most consumed leafy vegetables with high nutritional value. The experiment was conducted at the Capão do Leão Campus of the Federal University of Pelotas, using cv lettuce seeds. mimosa meadow and had the following objectives: to determine the effects of different concentrations of ZnSO4 on germination, in addition to analyzing the potential for biofortification of seeds through soaking in solutions of different concentrations of ZnSO4. Three assays were performed: one with application of zinc solution in the substrate, and two assays of soaking the seeds in solutions containing different concentrations of ZnSO4, for 2 hours or 16 hours. From these tests, the germination percentage, fresh mass of the seedlings and germination speed index (GSI) were analyzed. Data were submitted to statistical analysis using Tukey's test with ANOVA (p ≤ 0.05). The germination potential of seeds soaked for 2 hours or 16 hours in the different treatments was not affected in the Zn concentrations studied.

DOI:https://doi.org/10.56238/uniknowindevolp-100