Influence of Magnetized Water and Seed on Yield and Uptake of Heavy Metals of Tomato

Abstract

This study assessed influence of magnetized water (MW) and magnetized seed (MS) on yield and uptake of heavy metals of tomato. Tomato seeds were put on permanent magnet (1000 gauss) for 24 hours and water was allowed to flow through magnetic flux density 319 gauss. Tomato seeds (variety UC82B) were planted in 16 pots, thinned after 21 days to one tomato/pot and irrigated with MW or non-magnetized water (NMW). Four treatments used were MS and MW (T1), non-magnetized seed (NMS) and MW (T2), MS and NMW (T3), NMS and NMW (T4). A 1.0 litre of water was applied to tomato plant in a completely randomized design and each treatment was replicated 4 times. Yields and concentrations of cadmium, copper, chromium, iron, manganese, nickel, lead and zinc were determined from the tomato fruit. The mean yields for T1, T2, T3 and T4 were 288.1, 275.8, 176.6 and 200.1 g/pot, respectively. Mean concentrations of Iron for T1, T2, T3 and T4 were 0.015, 0.010, 0.010 and 0.010 mg/L, respectively. Mean concentrations of zinc for T1, T2 T3 and T4 were 0.030, 0.110, 0.115 and 0.125 mg/L. The values of copper, iron, lead, manganese and zinc for T2 were 0.02–0.03, 1.2–1.8, 0.03–0.07, 0.10–0.12 and 0.00–0.01 mg/L. The corresponding values for T4 were 0.02–0.02, 1.30–1.60, 0.04–0.04, 0.08–0.11 mg/L but Zn was not detected. Concentrations of heavy metals in the tomato were below FAO/WHO permissible limits. MW and MS increased tomato yield and didn’t increase uptake of heavy metals that could cause diseases to man.