Effect of Waste Cooking Oil-Based Composite Materials on Radish Growth and Biochemical Responses

Abstract

Waste cooking oil poses a serious threat to human health and the environment, both in households and in larger communities. One of the applications of waste cooking oil is composite materials called vegeblocks, which can be used for construction purposes. These composites are formed by the process of polymerisation, esterification and polyesterification. The resulting materials exhibit mechanical strength in line with the requirements for paving blocks. Composite materials that have been annealed for a minimum of 20 h at 200 °C or higher have the highest tensile strength (above 5 MPa). In contrast, composites with the highest flexural strength were obtained after processing at 210 °C for 16 h. The Saxa 2 variety showed the greatest inhibition of storage root growth (almost 43% compared to the control sample), as well as stimulation of root and leaf blade growth (by a maximum of 61.5% and 53.5%, respectively, compared to the control sample). The composite obtained from the maximum process parameters resulted in significant growth of both the root and the green part of both radish varieties by up to 35%. The study showed that the presence of vegeblocks in the plants causes stress conditions, resulting in increased peroxidase content compared to the control sample. The presence of the oil composite in the soil did not increase the amount of catalase in the radish, and even a reduction was observed compared to the control sample.