Introducing Amino Acid and Chitosan Iron Chelates as Available Sources of Iron in Nutrient Solutions by Strategy I and II Plants

Iron (Fe) is an important micronutrient that plays a role in several crop physiological processes such as photosynthesis, respiration, and synthesis of heme proteins, DNA, RNA, and hormones. The most common Fe source used in agriculture is Fe-EDDHA. However, the usage of this chelate may be problematic for plant growth. In the recent years, organic chelates have gained attention as they increase the microelements solubility and prevent iron precipitation in nutrient solution. Organic chelates such as amino acids and polysaccharides have many physicochemical (reactive OH, COOH and NH2 groups) and biological (biocompatible and biodegradable) properties that make these attractive materials usable for the agricultural practice. Biodegradability, low toxicity, immune system stimulation, the ability to coordinate metal, less sensitivity to photodegradation, and the effect on physical properties of rhizosphere and root growth dynamic are ideal properties of these components. The objective of this study was to evaluate Fe-organic-chelates efficiency as Fe sources for bean (Strategy I) and corn (Strategy II) growth in the hydroponic system.

In this research, we synthesized Fe-amino acid chelates including  Fe-Glycine (Fe-Gly), Fe-Phenylalanine (Fe-Phe), Fe-Tyrosine (Fe-Tyr), Fe-Methionine (Fe-Met), and Fe chitosan chelates in two forms of acidic hydrolyzed chitosan [Fe-C(A.hyd)] and enzymatic hydrolyzed chitosan [Fe-C(E.hyd)] and characterized by FTIR and CHN analyzer. The efficiency of these iron sources for bean (Strategy II) and corn (Strategy I) in hydroponic system was then evaluated. Seeds of bean and corn were washed with distilled water and transplanted into special containers containing coco peat, perlite and vermicompost (1:1:1) at 25 °C for germination and initial growth. The seedlings were transferred to polyethylene plastic lids fitting tightly over 8-L polyethylene containers under controlled conditions in the greenhouse with a light period of 8 hours per day, the temperature of 20 to 25°C and relative humidity of 65 to 75%. The pots were stacked in black color to prevent light reaching the root of the plant and the solution. In each pot, one plant seedling was placed and the basic nutrient solution was prepared in deionized water. The plants were harvested after 8 weeks, their root and shoot were separated and dried after washing with distilled water in an oven at 75 ° C. The dried samples were ground to fine powder to pass through a 20-mesh sieve. The analysis of Fe in samples was performed using atomic absorption spectrophotometer.

Application of organic chelates of amino acids and chitosan increased the shoot dry matter per plant compared to Fe-EDDHA. Fe content in shoot of corn and bean was highest using Fe-Tyr, Fe-Met and [Fe-C(A.hyd)]. Uptake and accumulation of Fe in roots were observed by using all chelates, but the highest translocation factor was found for the treatments including [Fe-C(A.hyd)] and Fe-Tyr. Translocation factor in bean plants was higher than corn, and around half of Fe in bean plants was translocated from root to shoot. The use of iron chelates in plant growth medium increased the activity of ferric chelates reductase enzymes in bean and corn compared to Fe-EDDHA. However, the mean of this enzyme activity in bean was higher than that in corn. Therefore, the activity of this enzyme can be used as an indicator for determining the iron availability in leaf cells in Strategy I and Strategy II plants. In general, the plants need less energy to absorb Fe when the chelates with a simpler structure are used.

The results indicated that using Fe organic chelates in the hydroponic system could supply sufficient amounts of iron for the plant uptake and also improve the root and the shoot growth of bean and corn. Overall, the effect of Fe organic chelates on Fe content of bean and corn shoots was in the following order: Fe- Chi(A.hyd) > Fe-Tyr > Fe-Met > Fe-Gly >. Activity of leaf ferric chelate reductase in bean was higher than that in corn.