A master’s thesis at the College of Agriculture, University of Kerbala, discussed the effect of the mineral zeolite and the amino acid glutamine on the growth of Hibiscus tiliaceus L. seedlings and their content of active compounds under water stress conditions.
The study, submitted by the student Ali Sabar Mohammed Abdullah, aimed to investigate the role of zeolite as a soil conditioner and glutamine foliar spraying in enhancing the tolerance of this promising shrub to drought conditions, sustaining and improving its vegetative growth and biologically active compounds. This study is the first of its kind under local conditions due to the recent introduction of this plant in Iraq in general, and in Karbala province in particular.
The study concluded that it is possible to cultivate this shrub under water-scarce conditions using zeolite and glutamine. The results showed that applying these agents at different levels to seedlings irrigated at 50% of field capacity produced better vegetative growth compared to seedlings irrigated at 100% of field capacity without zeolite and glutamine. Moreover, it improved the content of medically active compounds.
This study opens new prospects for using this tree to expand green spaces in Karbala while reducing water usage by 50%. Further studies could explore additional environmentally friendly treatments to reduce water use even further.
