Drought is a major cause of the present decrease in crop yield and agricultural productivity around the globe. The disastrous effects of drought on plants call for a renewed concern on effective strategies to improve plant growth and yield under drought stress. This study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of Arthrobacter arilaitensis and Streptomyces pseudovenezuelae to improve maize growth under drought stress at three soil moisture levels using two inoculation methods. Seven rhizosphere actinomycetes isolates were screened for the production of plant growth promoting (PGP) traits and it was observed that all isolates produced one or more PGP properties. The inoculated plants were not only protected from the deleterious effects of drought, but also showed significant increases in the physiological parameters measured. The findings of this study suggest that these isolates are important tools capable of being developed into bio-inoculants to effectively improve drought tolerance in plants.

The introduction of ecological sanitation (ECOSAN) toilets in South Africa has created opportunities for safer sanitation and recycling of human excreta, as fertilizers, in rural and peri-urban areas. A study was carried out to evaluate the fertilizer value of human urine (0 to 400 kg N ha^—1) for maize and tomato, compared to urea, in a tunnel house. Dry matter yield of both maize and tomato, harvested at 9 and 10 weeks after planting, respectively, increased with increasing N rate (both as urine or urea) up to 200 kg N ha ^—1. Urea reduced soil electrical conductivity (EC) whereas urine increased it. Leaf tissue Na, in both crops, also increased with urine application. A follow-up study was carried out with two crops with contrasting sensitivity to salinity and using a wider range of N application (0 to 800 kg N ha^—1). The results indicated increased root and leaf dry-matter yield of beetroot (tolerant to salinity) with increased urine rates up to the highest rate of 800 kg N ha^—1 , whereas the leaf and root dry-matter yield of carrot, which is sensitive to salinity, peaked at the low urine application rate of 50 kg N ha^{— 1}. Soil EC increased with urine application up to 4.64 and 13.35 mS cm^—1, under beetroot and carrot, respectively. Generally the results showed that human urine compared well with urea as a source of N for crops but optimum rates depend on the sensitivity of the crops to soil salinity, which should be monitored where human urine is regularly used for fertilizing crops.

Soil degradation remains an ongoing process that is exacerbated by the effects of climate change. Consequently, these processes decrease soil organic matter and nutrient contents, soil biological functions, and plant productivity. The addition of organic amendments (OAs) to the soil is a widespread practice to enhance soil quality and the health of agricultural soils. One of the most significant microbial hotspots controlling the processes, dynamics, and cycling of nutrients, carbon and water in terrestrial ecosystems is the rhizosphere. Understanding the continuing transformations of OAs and the distribution of different factors (C, nutrients, and microbial activities) across and along roots is crucial in the rhizosphere. The application of OAs to soil increases soil organic matter and nutrients, water holding capacity, improves soil structure and stimulates soil microbial activity and biomass. This review evaluates the role of the rhizosphere microbial community in organically amended soils for promoting plant growth and health. The diversity of the rhizosphere microbiome and the mechanisms used in plant protection are discussed.

Tea (Camellia sinensis L.) is a perennial acidophilic crop, and known to be a nonalcoholic stimulating beverage that is most widely consumed after water. The aim of this review paper is to provide a detailed documentation of selected micronutrient contents, viz. boron (B), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo), and zinc (Zn) in made tea and tea infusion. Available data from the literature were used to calculate human health aspect associated with the consumption of tea infusion. A wide range of micronutrients reported in both made tea and tea infusion could be the major sources of micronutrients for human. The content of B, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, and Zn in made tea are ranged from 3.04 to 58.44 μg g⁻¹, below detectable limit (BDL) to 122.4 μg g⁻¹, BDL to 602 μg g⁻¹, 0.275 to 13,040 μg g⁻¹, 0.004 to 15,866 μg g⁻¹, 0.04 to 570.80 μg g⁻¹ and 0.01 to 1120 μg g⁻¹, respectively. Only 3.2 μg L⁻¹ to 7.25 mg L⁻¹, 0.01 μg L⁻¹ to 7 mg L⁻¹, 3.80 μg L⁻¹ to 6.13 mg L⁻¹, 135.59 μg L⁻¹ −11.05 mg L⁻¹, 0.05 μg L⁻¹ to 1980.34 mg L⁻¹, 0.012 to 3.78 μg L⁻¹, and 1.12 μg L⁻¹ to 2.32 μg L⁻¹ of B, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, and Zn, respectively, are found in tea infusion which are lower than the prescribed limit of micronutrients in drinking water by World Health Organization. Furthermore, micronutrient contents in tea infusion depend on infusion procedure as well as on the instrument used for analysis. The proportion of micronutrients found in different tea types are 1.0–88.9% for B, 10–60% for Co, 2.0–97.8% for Cu, 67.8–89.9% for Fe, 71.0–87.4% for Mn, 13.3–34% for Mo, and 34.9–83% for Zn. From the results, it can also be concluded that consumption of three cups of tea infusion per day does not have any adverse effect on human health with respect to the referred micronutrients rather got beneficial effects to human.

In recent years, utilization of Rhus coriaria L. (sumac) is upgrading not only in their culinary use and human nutrition, but also in the pharmaceutical industry, food industry and veterinary practices. This is driven by accumulating evidence that support the ethnobotanical use of this plant; in particular, advanced knowledge of the content of nutritional, medicinal and techno-functional bioactive ingredients. Herein, we discuss polyphenolic compounds as the main bioactive ingredients in Rhus coriaria L., which contribute mainly to the significance and utility of this spice. Most of the antioxidant potential and therapeutic roles of sumac are increasingly attributed to its constituent tannins, flavonoids, and phenolic acids. Hydroxyphenyl pyranoanthocyanins and other anthocynins are responsible for the highly desired red pigments accounting for the strong pigmentation capacity and colorant ability of sumac. Certain polyphenols and the essential oil components are responsible for the peculiar flavor and antimicrobial activity of sumac. Tannin-rich sumac extracts and isolates are known to enhance the food quality and the oxidative stability of animal products such as meat and milk. In conclusion, polyphenol-rich sumac extracts and its bioactive ingredients could be exploited towards developing novel food products which do not only address the current consumers’ interests regarding organoleptic and nutritional value of food, but also meet the growing need for ‘clean label’ as well as value addition with respect to antioxidant capacity, disease prevention, and health promotion in humans.

Sulphate-supplemented nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPKS) fertilizer was nanoformulated through ionic gelation of chitosan (CS) and tripolyphosphate (TPP) at pH value of 5.5 to afford a series of nanofertilizers. The CS-TPP nanoparticles and CS-TPP-NPKS nanofertilizers were engineered using different dose of CS (0.125, 0.25, 0.5 and 1%) and NPKS fertilizer (20, 40 and 60 ppm). These nanoparticles were characterized through particle size distribution, zeta potential, SEM, XRD, FTIR, EDX and ICP-MS. The results revealed CS-TPP-NPKS particles with size range of 220–530 nm, polydispersity index (PDI) value between 0.2–0.5 and positive zeta potential. A preliminary evaluation of these nanoparticles along with inorganic NPK and NPKS fertilizers were conducted under greenhouse condition using maize (Zea mays L.) as a test crop. Findings from this study showed that inorganic NPKS (20:7:3:0.5) fertilizer, CS-TPP nanoparticles, and formulated NPKS nanofertilizers gave higher maize plants growth increases than NPK fertilizer and control treatments. The tallest plant (37.73 cm) and highest number of leaves (9) were recorded with the CS-TPP-NPKS nanofertilizer treatment obtained using 1% CS/NPKS (40 ppm). On the other hand, application of the nanoformulated derivative with 0.25% CS/NPKS (20 ppm) produced maize plants with superior chlorophyll content with 12.71 chlorophyll index value. A highly varied magnitude of the coefficient of variation in nutrient contents and uptake was recorded among the treatments. These results revealed that the incorporation of sulphur nutrient into NPK fertilizer and its transformation to nanoparticles have the potential characteristics for effective and productive growth of maize and sustainable agricultural activities.