IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jagris/v8y2018i7p96-d154755.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Cultivation of Potted Sea Fennel, an Emerging Mediterranean Halophyte, Using a Renewable Seaweed-Based Material as a Peat Substitute

Author

Listed:
  • Francesco Fabiano Montesano

    (Institute of Sciences of Food Production, CNR—National Research Council of Italy, Via G. Amendola, 122/O, 70126 Bari, Italy)

  • Concetta Eliana Gattullo

    (Department of Soil, Plant and Food Sciences, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Via Amendola 165/A, 70126 Bari, Italy)

  • Angelo Parente

    (Institute of Sciences of Food Production, CNR—National Research Council of Italy, Via G. Amendola, 122/O, 70126 Bari, Italy)

  • Roberto Terzano

    (Department of Soil, Plant and Food Sciences, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Via Amendola 165/A, 70126 Bari, Italy)

  • Massimiliano Renna

    (Institute of Sciences of Food Production, CNR—National Research Council of Italy, Via G. Amendola, 122/O, 70126 Bari, Italy
    Department of Agricultural and Environmental Science, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Via Amendola, 165/A, 70126 Bari, Italy)

Abstract

Sea fennel ( Crithmum maritimum L.), an emerging halophyte species, represents a nutritious and refined food product. In this study, the effect on yield and quality of potted sea fennel grown on three posidonia ( Podisonia oceanica (L.) Delile)-based composts (a municipal organic solid waste compost, a sewage sludge compost and a green compost) and a peat-based substrate was analyzed. Composts were used both pure and mixed with peat at a dose of 50% on a volume basis. We hypothesized that the halophytic nature of this plant might overcome the limitations of high-salinity compost-based growing media. The growth parameters, color traits and trace metals content (Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn) of the edible parts were compared. Independently of the substrates, the average total and edible yields were 51 and 30 g plant −1 , respectively, while the average waste portion was about 41%. The use of posidonia-based compost did not affect the color traits of sea fennel plants as compared with samples grown on the commercial peat-based substrate. In general, potted sea fennel grown on both posidonia-based composts and commercial peat-based substrate appeared a good source of essential micronutrients. Only a weak reduction of Fe and Mn concentrations was observed in plants grown on posidonia-based composts, especially when used at the highest dose. Independently of the growing medium, the content of potentially hazardous trace elements (Cd and Pb) in the edible parts of sea fennel was always below the maximum admissible limits fixed by the European legislation. Results indicate that posidonia-based composts can be used as a sustainable peat substitute for the formulation of soilless mixtures to grow potted sea fennel plants, even up to a complete peat replacement.

Suggested Citation

  • Francesco Fabiano Montesano & Concetta Eliana Gattullo & Angelo Parente & Roberto Terzano & Massimiliano Renna, 2018. "Cultivation of Potted Sea Fennel, an Emerging Mediterranean Halophyte, Using a Renewable Seaweed-Based Material as a Peat Substitute," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 8(7), pages 1-12, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:8:y:2018:i:7:p:96-:d:154755
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/8/7/96/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/8/7/96/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Matteo Anaclerio & Massimiliano Renna & Donato Di Venere & Lucrezia Sergio & Pietro Santamaria, 2021. "Smooth Golden Fleece and Prickly Golden Fleece as Potential New Vegetables for the Ready-to-Eat Production Chain," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-13, January.
    2. Massimiliano Renna & Angelo Signore & Francesco F. Montesano & Maria Gonnella & Pietro Santamaria, 2019. "Biodiversity of Vegetable Crops, A Living Heritage," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-5, March.
    3. Massimiliano Renna & Francesco F. Montesano & Angelo Signore & Maria Gonnella & Pietro Santamaria, 2018. "BiodiverSO: A Case Study of Integrated Project to Preserve the Biodiversity of Vegetable Crops in Puglia (Southern Italy)," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 8(8), pages 1-22, August.
    4. Danilo Loconsole & Giuseppe Cristiano & Barbara De Lucia, 2019. "Glassworts: From Wild Salt Marsh Species to Sustainable Edible Crops," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-12, January.
    5. Francesca Vannucchi & Cristina Macci & Serena Doni & Vincenzo Longo & Francesca Ugolini & Grazia Masciandaro & Eleonora Peruzzi, 2022. "Posidonia -Based Compost and Dredged Sediment in Growing Media Improve Tolerance and Nutrient Uptake in Ornamental Plants," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-14, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:8:y:2018:i:7:p:96-:d:154755. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.