Effects of Fenton-modified compost on photosynthetic pigments and growth indices of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) under salinity stress

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Soil Science and Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Maragheh, Maragheh, Iran

2 Department of Soil Science and Engineering, , Faculty of Agriculture, University of Maragheh, Maragheh, Iran

3 Department of Horticultural Science and Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Maragheh, Maragheh, Iran

Abstract

Soil salinity, through imposing osmotic stress and disturbing nutrient uptake, is one of the major constraints limiting agricultural productivity in arid and semi-arid regions. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of compost enriched with Fenton-pretreated sawdust in alleviating salinity stress and improving photosynthetic capacity and growth performance of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.), a medicinal plant. It should be noted that the Fenton oxidation was applied exclusively to the sawdust fraction, not to the entire manure compost. A factorial experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design under greenhouse conditions, including three salinity levels (0, 4, and 8 dS m⁻¹) and four fertilization treatments (no fertilizer, conventional compost, sawdust-enriched compost, and 4% compost containing Fenton-pretreated sawdust), each with three replications. The results revealed that severe salinity (8 dS m⁻¹) significantly reduced leaf fresh and dry weights, total biomass, number of lateral branches, and plant height. However, application of the Fenton-pretreated sawdust compost markedly mitigated these adverse effects, leading to remarkable increases in leaf dry weight, total biomass, number of lateral branches, and plant height by 215%, 214%, 250%, and 116%, respectively, compared with the unfertilized control under severe salinity. Moreover, this treatment significantly enhanced chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and carotenoid contents. The improved photosynthetic performance explained the enhanced biomass accumulation and lateral branch development, indicating that reinforcement of photosynthetic capacity was the key driver of growth promotion. Notably, plant performance under severe salinity with the Fenton-pretreated sawdust compost even exceeded that of conventional and mixed composts under non-saline conditions, highlighting its superior qualitative efficiency. Therefore, compost enriched with Fenton-oxidized sawdust can be proposed as an innovative management strategy to enhance photosynthetic capacity and support the economic cultivation of medicinal plants in saline and low-fertility soils.

Keywords

References

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