Effect of foliar application of boron trioxide and zinc oxide nanoparticles on leaves chemical composition, yield and fruit quality of Olea europaea L. cv. Picual

Abstract

Abstract Background and objective Olive tree is one of the most important and a widely distributed tree grown in many arid and semi-arid areas of the world. The production of olive in these areas is generally low due to the poor soil fertility. Zinc is one of the essential micronutrients for plants, and its deficiency is common in many crops. Boron deficiency is also a common micronutrient problem in agriculture, which results in reducing of yield production and quality. Nanotechnology has emerged as one of the most innovative scientific field in agriculture. So the objective of this work is determine the appropriate concentration of nano-zinc and nano-boron to reach the best olive fruits yield and improve its chemical and morphological traits. Materials and methods The present investigation has been made during two successive seasons of 2017 and 2018 in a private orchard located at Ismailia governorate, Egypt, to study the effect of foliar application of boron nanoparticles at a rate of 10 and 20 ppm and zinc nanoparticles at a rate of 100 and 200 ppm on leaf chemical composition, yield, and fruit quality of Picual olive tree. Results The application of boron and zinc nanoparticles in different concentration was able to effect on the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of Picual cultivar in the first and second seasons, respectively, compared with the control treatment leaves mineral content and pigments, fruit set percent, fruit drop percent, fruits yield, fruit physical, and chemical characteristics. Moreover, spraying Picual cultivar with nano-boron at 20 ppm + nano-zinc at 200 ppm (T8) is the best treatment in this study to obtain the maximum final fruit set which led to harvest the maximum fruits yield with the high seed oil percentage and low acidity in the first and second seasons, respectively. Conclusion It could recommend that spraying Picual olive trees with nano-boron at 20 ppm + nano-zinc at 200 ppm is the best treatment in this study to obtain the maximum final fruit set which led to harvest the maximum fruits yield with the high seed oil percentage and low acidity.