Comparative analysis of nutrient uptake in Solanum melongena L. grown in sandy clay loamy soil mixed with different doses of Polyvinylpyrrolidone

Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), a water-soluble polymer, is known to amend the soil’s physicochemical properties and can also act as a potential soil conditioner while alanine, a non-polar and neutral amino acid, is a good source of nitrogen (N) for plants. The current study concluded that using PVP and alanine in balance improved essential nutrient uptake in eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) and fostered the plant growth. The experiment comprised 6 treatments in a randomized block design (RBD) in triplicate. The treatments were labeled as T0 (control; 0 mg PVP + 0 M alanine/kg soil), T1 (0 mg PVP + 0.1 M alanine/kg soil), T2 (250 mg PVP + 0.1 M alanine/kg soil), T3 (500 mg PVP + 0.1 M alanine/kg soil/Kg soil), T4 (750 mg PVP + 0.1 M alanine/kg soil) and T5 (1000 mg PVP + 0.1 M alanine/kg soil). The integrated use of PVP and alanine significantly increased the growth parameters, macronutrients, and micronutrient uptake in eggplant due to enhanced soil-amino acid interactions and the nutrients that are released as organic matter breaks down. Among different treatments, T5showed maximum growth of the plant which might be due to the highest uptake of nitrogen (N), magnesium (Mg), Iron (Fe), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu) and Zinc (Zn). Additionally, a change in sandy clay loamy soil’s chemical properties was also observed during the study. From T0 to T5, the soil pH was decreased while electrical conductivity was increased. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to analyze the morphological changes in the soil’s structure.