Arid regions are mainly characterized by extreme environmental conditions, which strongly affect crop production and therefore, could not allow to satisfy the high food demand. During the past decades, chemicals fertilizers have been intensively used to increase crop yield. However, significant applications of chemical fertilizers have showed adverse effects on the environment in many previous works. Therefore, this study attempts to convert plant parts of dates palm (leaflet, petiole, and fruits) into biochar. Furthermore, this work also aims to determine the physiochemical composition of the biomaterial and its potentialities in improving plant growth of Ocimum basilicum at different levels including 0, 1.5, and 3% hydroponically. Based on our results, physiochemical parameters of the tested biochar revealed that 3% fruit biochar had the highest water drainage (42 ml), while petiole biochar at the same concentration without Hoagland had the highest pH (8.38) and EC (3452.66 µS/cm). Electrical properties, such as voltage (2.93 V) and current (0.14 mA), and plant metrics, including shoot and root growth, showed significant improvement, particularly with 3% of leaflet biochar and Hoagland application. Strong correlations between electrochemical properties (voltage, current) and plant growth were observed, with values ranging from 0.62 to 0.98. These findings suggest that biochar derived from date palm can be a valuable amendment for improving hydroponic crop production, particularly in arid regions.

Lower soil quality is one of the biggest challenges that limit farming systems under arid regions. However, little is known about the use of organic compon

Extreme environments significantly impact the metabolic profiles of plants, leading to variations in chemical composition and bioactivity. This study investigates the effects of altitude, plant part age, and light exposure on the chemical composition and antimicrobial properties of Moringa peregrina. Based on our results, mineral contents were plant location dependent; while dry matter, ash, total digestible nutrients (TDN), fibre, protein, and tannins, were greater in the samples from the mountain. Vitamin E was more concentrated in the wadi. Vitamin A, selenium, phenols, and heavy metals were undetectable in both environments. Antimicrobial assays revealed stronger activity in mountain samples than the other locations. Age-dependent analyses showed that nitrogen, protein, ash, and electrolyte leakage were higher in young plant parts, whereas chlorophyll a and b levels were elevated in mature leaves and younger branches, particularly in lower elevations. Interestingly, young leaves from mountain regions had higher chlorophyll concentrations compared to mature leaves, contrasting with trends at other elevations. Photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) measurements were also highest in the mountain region. These findings suggest that M. peregrina employs diverse metabolic adaptations for survival in challenging environments, potentially offering socioeconomic value to indigenous communities through its bioactive properties.

Arid environments are characterized by extreme weather conditions which strongly affect plant physiology. Overstory plants layer can increase stress resilience of the understory plants than those exposed to direct sunlight. To verify this assumption, Tephrosia apollinea plant samples were collected under different canopies positions of Acacia tortilis (open area, east, and west) and subjected to phytochemical and antimicrobial analyses considering plant organ-age, and sunlight parameters. Based on the current findings, PPFD (1351.3 µmol.m^− 2.s^− 1), PFD-UV (24.87 µmol.m^− 2.s^− 1) and PFD-FR (404.78 µmol.m^− 2.s^− 1) values were greater in the open area. Calcium (2820.6 mg/100 g), phosphorous (1677.76 mg/100 g), magnesium (492.26 mg/100 g), and zinc (9.13 mg/100 g) levels were higher in the young leaves. Dry matter (62.80%), crude fibre (10.73%), ash (4.83%), TDN (66.34%), tannins (2.42%), and total flavonoids (3162.66 mg/kg) amounts were much higher in the mature leaves, and the opposite trends were noticeable in the branches. The amounts of crude protein (8.53%) were greater in the young than mature organs. Strongest antimicrobial activities effects were recorded in the young than mature organs with east and west locations showing more effects. The inhibition zones ranging from 10 to 14 mm. The findings of this study indicate that microenvironments of understory plants can greatly enhance their survival capacity, which could help in improving medicines and food production in the arid regions.

Sweet potato is considered one of the crops enriched with valuable nutritional components, and this plant might possess strongest inhibitory allelochemicals. The present work evaluated the nutritional value and the allelopathic effects of sweet potatoes on seed germination and seedlings performance of Prosopis juliflora. The findings revealed that leaves of sweet potatoes contain more calcium, magnesium, manganese, zinc, copper, protein and flavonoids than the other organs. Food exposure to direct solar positively affected the amounts of phosphorous, magnesium, zinc dry matter, Total Digestible Nutrients (TDN), while greater levels of sodium, potassium, protein, fibres, ash, and flavonoids were recorded indoor. Exposing the samples for 15 and 25 min showed higher values of phosphorous, sodium, fibres, TDN, flavonoids, and fat compared with the non-treated samples. While the values of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Electrical conductivity (EC) and salinity were higher in the sweet potatoes shoot water extracts, those of pH were lower. Shoot water extracts exhibited strongest inhibitory effects on the seeds and seedlings responses than the tubers. Electrolyte leakage values were greater in the seedlings treated with shoot water extracts than the tubers. The results of this study demonstrate that growing sweet potatoes in the arid regions significantly improve its nutritional values which could be beneficial for human health. Furthermore, based on the results, proper attention should be given when drying the sweet potatoes to avoid nutrients damage. The tested shoots could be used to control the proliferation and the nuisances of P. juliflora plants in the introduced range.