The antioxidants and secondary metabolites found in chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) are affected by biofertilizers, conventional fertilizers, and nano-fertilizers
1
Department of Horticulture and Landscape Engineering, College of Agriculture, Al-Qasim Green University, Babylon, Iraq.
2
Babylon University/college of science for women
Abstract
In winter 2024, a field study was conducted on the wild chicory plant (Cichorium intybus L.), a medicinal species having nutritional and pharmacological properties. A completely random design with four treatments was used to determine the effect of bio-stimulant application to leaves, traditional chemical fertilizers, and NPK nano-fertilizers on secondary metabolite production and antioxidant activity in the absence of information on how modern fertilization methods affect secondary metabolite production. All data were evaluated using one-way ANOVA and LSD at p < 0.05. The first treatment was water spraying (T0), the second utilized conventional NPK chemical fertilizer (T1), the third used NPK nano-fertilizer (T2), and the fourth used biostimulant (T3). Wild chicory beat water-only (T0) in all variables. The biostimulant (T3) treatment outperformed the wild plants in all chemical and physiological parameters. It had the most flavonoids (61.5 mg/g), phenols (197.8 mg/g), and alkaloids (1.89%). The test group had 192.1 mg/L glutathione, up from 137.7 mg/L in the control. T3 worked best at 500 mg/L and had the lowest IC50 value of 90.9 mg/L in the DPPH antioxidant experiment, outperforming the wild plant at 104.5 mg/L and vitamin C at 140.6 mg/L. Biostimulants and nanofertilizers enhance chicory's nutritional and medicinal value by improving secondary chemicals and antioxidant activity, offering a sustainable alternative to conventional fertilizers.
Aliwi,A. Abbas, Altameme,H. Jasim and Sahib,M. Radhi (2026). The antioxidants and secondary metabolites found in chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) are affected by biofertilizers, conventional fertilizers, and nano-fertilizers. Tikrit Journal for Agricultural Sciences, 26(2), 226-241. doi: 10.25130/tjas.26.2.17
MLA
Aliwi,A. Abbas, , Altameme,H. Jasim, and Sahib,M. Radhi. "The antioxidants and secondary metabolites found in chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) are affected by biofertilizers, conventional fertilizers, and nano-fertilizers", Tikrit Journal for Agricultural Sciences, 26, 2, 2026, 226-241. doi: 10.25130/tjas.26.2.17
HARVARD
Aliwi A. Abbas, Altameme H. Jasim, Sahib M. Radhi (2026). 'The antioxidants and secondary metabolites found in chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) are affected by biofertilizers, conventional fertilizers, and nano-fertilizers', Tikrit Journal for Agricultural Sciences, 26(2), pp. 226-241. doi: 10.25130/tjas.26.2.17
CHICAGO
A. Abbas Aliwi, H. Jasim Altameme and M. Radhi Sahib, "The antioxidants and secondary metabolites found in chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) are affected by biofertilizers, conventional fertilizers, and nano-fertilizers," Tikrit Journal for Agricultural Sciences, 26 2 (2026): 226-241, doi: 10.25130/tjas.26.2.17
VANCOUVER
Aliwi A. Abbas, Altameme H. Jasim, Sahib M. Radhi The antioxidants and secondary metabolites found in chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) are affected by biofertilizers, conventional fertilizers, and nano-fertilizers. TJAS, 2026; 26(2): 226-241. doi: 10.25130/tjas.26.2.17
