Biostimulants, which improve plant growth and increase their resistance to adverse environmental factors, are important agents for agricultural producers. Alginite rock, containing a complex of compounds of natural origin, is one of these biostimulants. The product ALGEXr-2, an extract from crushed natural alginite, was created at the Institute of Agronomic Sciences of the Faculty of Agrobiology and Food Resources of the Slovak Agricultural University in Nitra. In our work, we used a 1 % ALGEXr-2 solution, which was applied in the amount of 10, 20, or 30 ml to Lactuca sativa L. plants of the «Odessky kucheriavets» variety grown in vitro. The root and shoot weight, as well as the flavonoid content and antioxidant activity, were determined. The positive effect of the alginite extract addition on the lettuce plant growth in vitro was revealed, as well as the ability of this solution to increase the flavonoid content in extracts from plants and the level of their antioxidant activity. The addition of alginite did not affect the root growth but increased the shoot weight by 1.5—1.9 times. The flavonoid content was significantly higher in the plants cultivated on the medium with alginite addition than in the control. In particular, the flavonoids specific content in the roots and shoots of control plants was 3.08±0.37 and 3.04±0.05 mg PE/g, and in the roots of the experimental plants was 2.04—2.12 times higher than in control. The specific content of flavonoids in the shoots exceeded this parameter in control by 1.68—2.27 times, depending on the amount of added alginite extract. Regression-correlation analysis showed a high degree of linear dependence of the lettuce extracts antioxidant activity (according to the parameter of equivalent concentration EC50) on the specific content of flavonoids in them. Conducting research in sterile conditions made it possible to rule out, both the influence of soil microflora on plant growth and the possibility of alginite impact on microorganisms. The obtained results can be used to develop the technology of treatment lettuce plants with alginite extract as a plant biostimulator to increase their nutritional value.
Keywords: Lactuca sativa L., alginate, growth stimulation, flavonoids, antioxidant activity
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