| Nitrate accumulation in lettuce (Lactuca sativa) grown in an aquaponic system |
| Paper ID : 1106-ICIAQUA |
| Authors |
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Kavos Nazari1, Meigol Taklu2, Seyed Pezhman Hosseini Shekarabi *3 1Animal Science Research Section, Research and Education Center of Agricultural and Natural Resources of Tehran, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran, Iran. 22. Department of Fisheries, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran. 3National Research Center of Saltwater Aquatic Animals, Iranian Fisheries Science Research Institute (IFSRI), Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Bafq, Iran. |
| Abstract |
| One of the most important quality indicators in edible vegetables is nitrate concentration. Lettuce is one of the most cultivated crops in aquaponic system due to its fast growth and high ability to absorb nutrients. This study aimed to evaluate the nitrate residual in lettuce grown in a recirculating aquaponic floating raft system. This experiment was conducted in the form of a completely randomized design with four experimental treatments and each treatment with three replications, which included A1:10 lettuce plants (Lactuca sativa) per m2 (without fish) along with a commercial liquid lettuce fertilizer, A2:30 lettuce per m2 (without fish) along with the liquid fertilizer, A3:10 lettuce per m2 and 30 fish (common carp; Cyprinus carpio) in a 300 l tank and A4:30 lettuce per m2 along with 30 fish carp in a 300 l tank for 60 days. At the end of the experiment, the lettuce samples were oven-dried and nitrate concentration was measured with sulfosalicylic acid reagent and spectrophotometry method. Based on the results, the nitrate content of the grown lettuce with different densities in aquaponic systems was significantly higher than other experimental treatments (p<0.05). The highest amount of nitrate (2370.25 ± 156.70 mg/kg) was measured in A4, which was not significantly different from A3 (p>0.05). In summary, the results of this experiment showed that the level of nitrate in the aquaponic system containing lettuce with common carp was lower than the declared standard limits for lettuce farming (2500 mg/kg) and they would be safe for human consumption. |
| Keywords |
| Aquaponic, Lettuce, Nitrate residual, Common carp, NO₃ |
| Status: Abstract Accepted (Oral Presentation) |