CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF SESAME (sesamum indicum L.) UNDER DIFFERENT RATES OF MICRONUTRIENTS APPLICATION

Abstract

A field experiment entitled “Chemical composition of sesame (sesamum indicum L.) under different rates of micronutrients application” was conducted during Kharif-1 2017 at central farm of SAU, Dhaka. Sesame (Sesamum indicum.L) is one of the most valuable oilseed crops whose seeds are used as traditional health food, with high quality oil, protein and natural antioxidants. They contained high amount of protein (26-28%), considerable amount of oil (45-55%), characterized by an elevated level of unsaturated fatty acids (79.50-83.40% of UFA) and high content of stearic acid (7.3-8.6%), and remarkable content of dietary fibers. Seed oil was also found to be rich in total phenolic content, chlorophyll content and carotenoid content. It was showed that sesame seeds can be considered as a good source of natural antioxidant, particularly after roasting. Due to their distinguishable and favorable properties, sesame seeds could be useful for food, industrial and pharmaceutical purposes. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Block Design with ten treatments and replicated thrice. The treatments were comprising of T1: control (no micronutrients ), T2: B (100 ppm), T3: Zn (100 ppm), T4: Mo (50 ppm), T5: Cu (100 ppm), T6: Fe (100 ppm), T7: Mn (100 ppm), T8: Co (50 ppm), T9: (combination of above micronutrients) and T10: commercial mixture of micronutrients.. Observations on plant height, number of branches, TDM, growth analysis parameters, chlorophyll content of leaf at various stages of crop, yield and yield attributes, oil content and N, P and K uptake by plant and plant parts recorded during the course of investigation were statistically analyzed. The results revealed that most of the putative morphological traits like plant height, number of branches, TDM of plant and plant parts increased with foliar application of different micronutrients but significantly the highest increase was found when micronutrients were applied in combination followed by individual application of Zn, B and Mo. Physiological growth parameters such as LAI, LAD, RGR, NAR, CGR and chlorophyll content of leaf increased significantly by foliar application of different micronutrients either in single or in combination. Seed yield in sesame increased significantly over control by foliar application of different micronutrients used in single or in their combination. In view of such beneficial effects of foliar application of micronutrients on sesame, it may be asserted that improvement in productivity of sesame can be achieved under a depleted soil condition through supplementary application of micronutrients like B, Zn, Mo, Cu, Fe, Mn, Co, either in single or their combination along with normal dose of N, P and K.