Journal Article

Mitigating water deficit stress in lemon balm (Melissa officinalis L.) through integrated soil amendments: A pathway to sustainable agriculture

Sadegh Kasmaei, Leila, Bolhassani, Zohreh, Feizian, Mohammad, Etesami, Hassan

2024

Overview

Lemon balm ( Melissa officinalis L.) is a valuable medicinal plant, but its growth can be significantly impacted by drought stress. This study aimed to mitigate the adverse effects of water deficit stress on lemon balm biomass by integrating poultry manure compost, poultry manure biochar, NPK fertilizer, Trichoderma harzianum , Thiobacillus thioparus , and elemental sulfur as soil amendments. The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse using a completely randomized design with a factorial arrangement, consisting of three replicates. It included a water deficit stress factor at three levels (95–100%, 75–80%, and 55–60% of field capacity) and a soil amendment treatment factor with eleven different fertilizer levels. Treatments included control (no amendment), NPK fertilizer, poultry manure compost, poultry manure biochar, and combinations of these with T. harzianum , T. thioparus, and elemental sulfur under various water deficit levels. Water deficit stress significantly reduced photosynthetic pigments, gas exchange parameters, chlorophyll fluorescence, relative water content, and antioxidant enzyme activity, while increasing membrane permeability and lipid peroxidation in lemon balm plants. However, the integrated application of organic, biological, and chemical amendments mitigated these negative impacts. The combined treatment of poultry manure compost, poultry manure biochar, NPK fertilizer, T. harzianum , T. thioparus , and elemental sulfur was the most effective in improving the morpho-physiological properties (1.97–60%) and biomass (2.31–2.76 times) of lemon balm under water deficit stress. The results demonstrate the potential of this holistic approach to enhance the resilience of lemon balm cultivation in water-scarce environments. The integration of organic, biological, and chemical amendments can contribute to sustainable agricultural practices by improving plant morphological and physiological properties and plant performance under drought conditions.

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,Springer Nature B.V,BMC
• Subject: Agricultural practices / Agricultural research / Agriculture / Agriculture - methods / antioxidant enzymes / Biochar / Biological effects / Biological properties / Biomass / Biomedical and Life Sciences / Charcoal / Chlorophyll / Chlorophyll - metabolism / Climate change / Combined treatment / composted manure / Composting / Composting - methods / Composts / Dehydration / Design factors / Drought / Droughts / Environmental aspects / Enzymatic activity / Enzyme activity / Enzymes / Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid / Farm buildings / Fertilizers / Field capacity / Flowers & plants / Fruits / Gas exchange / greenhouses / Hardiness / Herbal medicine / Iran / Lemon balm / Life Sciences / Lipid peroxidation / Lipids / Manure / Manures / Medicinal plants / Medicine, Botanic / Medicine, Herbal / Melissa - physiology / Melissa officinalis / Membrane permeability / Moisture content / NPK fertilizers / Organic fertilizers / Permeability / Peroxidation / photosynthesis / Photosynthetic pigments / Physiological aspects / Physiology / Plant morpho-physiological properties / Plant Sciences / Plants / Poultry / Poultry manure / Poultry manure biochar / Poultry manure compost / Production processes / Soil - chemistry / Soil amendment / Soil amendments / Soil fertility / Soil stresses / Stress (Psychology) / Sulfur / Sulfur compounds / Sustainable agriculture / Sustainable practices / Thiobacillus and elemental sulfur / Thiobacillus thioparus / Tree Biology / Trichoderma / Trichoderma harzianum / Water / Water - metabolism / Water content / Water deficit / water stress