The steady increase in global population in combination with the damaging effects of climate change in crops over the world constitutes key environmental problems to ensure the necessary food resources to guarantee the dietary requirements of the population. As a result there has been a growing interest in using simple yet cost effective methods to augment the nutritional value of food products, thus minimizing the size of the required daily portion while improving yields during harvesting. This work uses Roquette Arugula. A plant with a relatively short harvest cycle and characteristics to spinach and other greens commonly used raw in salads as a model system to investigate the effects that compost and phyto-hormones exert on the roots, stem and leaf uptake of Ca, Fe, and K from Coloso and Voladoras siltic soils from the West Coast of Puerto Rico. The total nutrient content in the plants where determined by Flame Atomic Absorption assisted by microwave digestion of the plant extract. The results shows that Roquette tends to accumulate a higher concentration of K and Ca on the stems and leaves than on the roots. The Ca, Fe, and K contents on the plants under different proportions of compost, and phyto-hormones in soil is presented and discussed. The availability of the technique for routine agricultural processes is presented.

Assessing the effects of compost and phytohormone additives on the Ca, Fe, and K uptake of Roquette Arugula in Coloso and Voladora soil

247th National Meeting (2014)

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