Plant Growth, Antioxidative Enzymes and Lipid Peroxidation in Sunflower Seedlings Supplemented With Eichhornia crassipes Organic Fertilizer Under Drought Stress Conditions

Abstract

In the semiarid region of the Brazilian Northeast, there is still the occurrence of soils with low concentrations of organic mass and nutrients. Eichhornia crassipes (water hyacinth) is recognized as one of the top ten endemic herbs in the world. However, its accumulation capacity means it can be an alternative source of nutrients. The objective of this study was to analyse the effects of macrophyte organic residue (ROM) on plant growth, antioxidative enzyme activity and membrane lipid peroxidation in leaves and roots of sunflower seedlings submitted to drought stress conditions. The experiment was conducted under greenhouse conditions at the Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Ceará, Maracanaú Campus, Brazil. Samples of E. crassipes were collected in the Parangaba Lagoon, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil. The treatments were: 1) 100% (by volume) sand; 2) sand + fertilizer (following the recommendation of 80 kg of N/ha), and 3) sand + 100% of the recommended nitrogen in macrophytes (RN). In general, the use of ROM caused better seedling growth in relation to the other treatments in all conditions studied. Increases in antioxidative enzyme activity and reductions in the deleterious effects of drought stress on plant growth were observed.