Fungi are the most common plant pathogens causing lower crop yields and some of them produce harmful mycotoxins. Triazoles are widely used in huge quantities as relatively cheap fungicides for the foliar treatment of plants. In addition to inaccurately applied spray, they can be easily flushed from the plant surface by irrigation or precipitation during the growing season.
Jana Jaklová Dytrtová from IOCB Prague and her colleagues studied the influence of the soil contaminated with triazoles on the bioavailability of essential elements, fructification, the amount of green biomass, and the production of some phenolic compounds in the plant.
The studies showed that the bioavailable portion of the micronutrients (Cu, Zn, and Fe) decreased significantly by the presence of triazoles because they can form organometallic complexes with metal ions. The scientists have also observed that the amount of green biomass decreased, whereas the tomato fruits were bigger as a reaction to stress conditions. Surprisingly, the level of chlorophylls a and b was not affected. The quantification of phenolic compounds indicated some changes in their concentrations in comparison with the negative control.
The results of the studies are discussed in detail in the article published in Food Chemistry.
Read the paper:
- Jakl, M.; Kovač, I.; Zeljković, S. Ć.; Dytrtová, J. J. Triazole fungicides in soil affect the yield of fruit, green biomass, and phenolics production of Solanum lycopersicum L. Food Chemistry 2021, 129328. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2021.129328
