Morphological and Physiological Responses of Cucumis sativus L. to Water with Micro-Nanobubbles

The scarcity of water, along with the concern of safe production of food, emphasizes the need for new agricultural techniques. Increasing dissolved oxygen concentration in water promotes the growth of plants in many ways. The aim of the present research was to investigate how cucumbers (Cucumis sativus L.) morphologically and physiologically respond to water enriched with air Micro-NanoBubbles (MNBs) as an oxygen saturating measure. The plants from early stage of seed planting (two groups, 32 plants in each) were cultured either with air-nanobubbles water or with tap water for 12 weeks, and the steric stability of MNBs in water was confirmed through zeta potential measurements (-20.47 mV). The number of blossoms in the plants irrigated by air MNBs water was almost 3.8 times more than the number of blossoms in those that were irrigated by tap water. MNBs water increased leaf area up to an average of 77%. Physiological indices such as chlorophylls a, b, and carotenoids were, respectively, 1.34, 1.44, and 1.35 times greater in the plants watered with MNBs than those with tap water. Overall, this study demonstrated that water with air micro-nanobubble had a positive effect on cucumber plants and is potentially an effective tool for the environmental friendly, economical, and profitable production of the plant.