Interaction of Potassium Fertilizer and Water Stress on the Quantitative and Qualitative Characteristics of Roselle Medicinal Plant

In this study, the effect of different levels of irrigation water and potassium fertilizer on Roselle was investigated. The experiment was conducted using split plot design with four levels of irrigation water (I1, I2, I3 and I4 equivalent to 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100% crop water requirement) and three levels of potassium (K1, K2 and K3 equivalent 50%, 75%, and 100% potassium requirement) as sub-plot. At the end of experiment, quantitative parameters of plant including height, weight and number of capsules, dry yield, and water use efficiency were measured. Also, qualitative parameters including anthocyanin, protein, and carbohydrate content were measured to investigate the effects of water stress and fertilizer on Roselle quality. The results showed that the simple effects of irrigation water and potassium fertilizer were significant (P <0.01) on all measured parameters. The highest yield was obtained from 100% potassium fertilizer treatments and 80% water requirement. The highest water use efficiency was obtained in 60% water requirement plus 100% potassium fertilizer application, but no significant difference was found between 60% and 80% water requirement. The anthocyanin, protein, and carbohydrate contents increased with decreasing irrigation water depth to 60% of plant water requirement and decreasing potassium fertilizer application. However, there was no significant difference between 50% and 75% K fertilizer application. Therefore, due to the water status of the region and the reduction in water resources, application of 80% water requirement reduces water consumption and 75% potassium fertilizer increases quality and mitigates effect of drought stress in Roselle.