Mohamed Hanafi Musa

Preparation, characterisation and viability of encapsulated Trichoderma harzianum UPM40 in alginate-montmorillonite clay

Microencapsulation is a process by which tiny parcels of an active ingredient are packaged within a second material for the purpose of shielding the active ingredient from the surrounding environment. This study aims to determine the ability of the microencapsulation technique to improve the viability of Trichoderma harzianum UPM40 originally isolated from healthy groundnut roots as effective biological control agents (BCAs). Alginate was used as the carrier for controlled release, and montmorillonite clay (MMT) served as the filler. The encapsulated Ca-alginate-MMT beads were characterised using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The FTIR results showed the interaction between the functional groups of alginate and MMT in the Ca-alginate-MMT beads. Peaks at 1595, 1420 and 1020 cm−1 characterised alginate, and peaks at 1028 and 453 cm−1 characterised MMT; both sets of peaks appeared in the Ca-alginate-MMT FTIR spectrum. The TGA analysis showed an improvement in the thermal stability of the Ca-alginate-MMT beads compared with the alginate beads alone. SEM analysis revealed a homogeneous distribution of the MMT particles throughout the alginate matrix. T. harzianum UPM40 was successfully encapsulated in the Ca-alginate-MMT beads. Storage analysis of the encapsulated T. harzianum UPM40 showed that the low storage temperature of 5°C resulted in significantly (p < 0.05) better storage compared with room temperature (30°C).

Use of Organic Enrichment as Additives in Coconut Coir Dust on Development of Tomato in Soilless Culture

ABSTRACT Amendment of empty fruit bunch (EFB) and vermicompost (VC) in coconut coir dust (CD) has been promoted as a potential alternate media in soilless culture. However, in commercial overview, several problems can be seen in the use of amendment with coconut coir dust as a growth media. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of EFB and VC as organic amendment (10%–40%; v/v) on the growth and yield of tomato plant in CD media. Six treatments were used with five replications. A 100% CD with nutrient solution (electrical conductivity [EC] = 2.5 mS · cm−1) was used as control treatment. The other treatments were 30 EFB, 10, 20, 30, and 40% VC, which were equivalent to half strength of the nutrients supplied in control. The results showed that plants grown in CD with 20% VC had higher vegetative growth and yield.