The response of photosynthetic pigments and dry matter partitioning and nitrate content in purslane (Portulaca oleracea) to plant nutrition

Nitrogen and and phosphorus are important components of plant nutrition. However inappropriate use of these nutrients can affect physiological aspects of plant. Therefore, in order to evaluate the response of some physiological parameters in purslane sucuulent plant to plant nutrition, an experiment was conducted as a RCBD with a split plot in time arrangement, which that nine levels of plant nutrition (T0: control (no fertilizer) T1: N-based broiler litter T2: P-based broiler litter T3: N-based cattle manure T4: P-based cattle manure urea T5: chemical fertilizer equivalent T1 T6: chemical fertilizer equivalent T2 T7: chemical fertilizer equivalent T3 and T8: chemical fertilizer equivalent T4 as a main factor and two levels of harvest date (27 July and 16 August) as sub factor. The results indicated that fertilizer treatments significantly increased chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b content compared to the control (no fertilizer). In the first harvest, the T8 treatment (0.33 mg g-1) showed the lowest carotenoids content, In the second harvest, the lowest carotenoids content was obtained in T2 and T7 treatments (0.43 and 0.45 mg g-1, respectively) which that there were no significant difference among T1 and T3 treatments. Dry matter partitioning of leaf: stem in broiler litter treatments (60.3:39.7) was more balanced than cattle manure treatments (63.6:36.4). Nitrate amount of BL and CM treatments was significant lower than the chemical fertilizer treatments. In general, it can be concluded that purslane photosynthesis and production is more affected by broiler litter application than the chemical fertilizer and cattle manure, which that it causes a considerable increase in crop production and health.