Plant Growth and Fruit Quality of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) Using Advanced Treated Water in Hydroponics

抄録

Biologically Treated Water (BTW) and Chlorinated Disinfected Water (CDW) are byproducts of wastewater treatment. Both BTW and CDW contain significant amounts of nutrients that can be used in agricultural systems. Although the use of BTW has been investigated relative to nutrient recovery, filtering treatment, and social and economic development, more research is required to determine the applicability of using CDW and BTW in hydroponic systems. This study evaluated the growth and quality of Cindy Sweet tomatoes irrigated by BTW and CDW and demonstrated the effectiveness of low application of fertilizer in hydroponic systems. The results demonstrated that tomato plants irrigated with CDW tend to have higher fresh-weight than those irrigated with BTW. Statistical analysis of fruit quality showed that the fruits of plants grown in BTW were larger in diameter and weight, but further t-test analysis showed no significant differences between water types. This study also discovered that hydroponic irrigation with BTW and CDW resulted in larger fruit clusters without a corresponding increase in fruit density. The Index for Relative Chlorophyll content (IRC) showed no difference between BTW and CDW. In contrast, despite presenting lower levels of pH, the control performed best with twice the chlorophyll content in terms of IRC. These results show that even with low IRC of plants from BTW and CDW, there were no differences in fruit size and weight among the treatments. The study also suggests that plants irrigated with CDW have higher biomass accumulation, which can be useful for comparing yields in leafy vegetables.