Valorization of whey from dairy industry for agricultural use as fertiliser: effects on plant germination and growth
1 Vasile Alecsandri University of Bacau, Department of Chemical and Food Engineering, 157 Calea Marasesti, 600115 Bacau, Romania
2 Ecole Polytechnique Universitaire de Lille, D partement G nie Biologique Industries Agro-alimentaires, Avenue Paul Langevin, 59655 Villeneuve d Ascq Cedex, France
3 Vasile Alecsandri University of Bacau, Department of Biology, Ecology and Environmental Protection, 157 Calea Marasesti, 600115 Bacau, Romania
2 Ecole Polytechnique Universitaire de Lille, D partement G nie Biologique Industries Agro-alimentaires, Avenue Paul Langevin, 59655 Villeneuve d Ascq Cedex, France
3 Vasile Alecsandri University of Bacau, Department of Biology, Ecology and Environmental Protection, 157 Calea Marasesti, 600115 Bacau, Romania
Abstract
In the present paper, the possibility of direct valorization of whey as fertilizer was investigated. For this study, the experiments were carried out on three species of plants: broccoli (Brassica oleracea L., var botrytis, subvar. cymosa), wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and soy (Glicine max (L) Merr). The germination capacity of seeds, the pot development phase and the accumulation of the fresh and dry biomass were analyzed. The results obtained in the case of the three studied species suggested the positive effect of whey addition during cultivation. The extraction of plant material was carried out by both classical methods and under microwaves. The preliminary results of thin layer chromatography (TLC) and UV-VIS spectroscopy analyses of the extracts confirmed the positive influence of whey on plants development, encouraging further research.
Keywords
fertilizer; germination; growth plant; whey valorization