Spinach (Spinacia
oleracea) belongs to family Amaranthaceae and is one of the important and
nutritious leafy vegetable consumed in India. The pot culture experiment is
carried out during 2014-15 to study the effect of nanozinc oxide particles on
the leaf physical and nutritional traits of spinach.
The spinach
plants were sprayed with graded concentration of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO
NPs) after 14 days of sowing. The leaf physical parameters like leaf length,
leaf width and leaf surface area are recorded at the time of maturity (45-50
days). The protein, carbohydrate, fat and dietary fiber content in leaf samples
are determined.
The plants sprayed
with ZnO NPs at the concentration of 500 and 1000 ppm showed the
increased leaf length, width, surface area and colour of leaf samples when
compared to control leaf samples. Similarly treated plants with ZnO NPs at the
concentration of 500 and 1000 ppm showed higher values of protein and dietary
fibre content in comparison to control leaf samples of spinach. Hence our study
suggests that the nano-zinc oxide sprayed spinach is more nutritious to
vegetarian diet by providing, protein, fiber and required amount of vegetarian
fat to diet.
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