Effect of Potassium and Calcium nano Fertilizers Application on Inulin Content of Chicory (Cichorium Intybus L.) Cultivars

Introduction
Medicinal plant chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) is widely found in temperate regions around the world and in Iran, which is one of the first main and important sources due to its high content of inulin (more than 70% of the dry weight of the root). Inulin production is known at industrial-commercial level (Franck, 2002). Due to having advantages such as the possibility of enrichment with dietary fiber, low calorie content and other nutritional characteristics, inulin is successfully used to replace fat and sugar (Roberfroid, 2005). Considering the need to localize the industry of extracting and processing inulin from chicory root, which is possible by using industrial lines for extracting sugar from sugar beet in sugar factories, the cultivation of this plant on a large scale and using the seeds of superior chicory masses and with high efficiency It is also necessary (Darjani et al., 2016). It is necessary to use new technologies in the agricultural industry more than ever. Potassium nano-chelate increases the efficiency of water consumption, increases plant tolerance to frost, drought, salinity, pests and diseases, increases leaf chlorophyll content and photosynthesis efficiency, and increases the absorption of micronutrients, especially iron, zinc and manganese. Calcium nanochelate contains 7% of chelated calcium, which is effective in root development and preventing damage caused by freezing and flooding stresses. Considering the lack of resources and research in the field of the effect of fertilizers prepared with nanotechnology on the amount of inulin and effective substances of the medicinal plant chicory in the country and due to the high cost of importing inulin, one of the goals of this research is to introduce a potentially rich source of inulin for extraction. And the use of inulin seems necessary.
 
Materials and Methods
a factorial experiment was conducted in complete randomized block design with 32 treatments and 3 repetitions for one crop year of 2015-2016 at the Rice Research Institute of Iran (Rasht). Each test plot consisted of four planting lines with a length of four meters at a distance of 50 cm from the next row and the distance between plants was 20 cm (with a density of 15 plants per square) and the distance between treatments and repetitions was considered to be one meter. In this experiment, the first factor, eight cultivars of chicory (indigenous landrace of northern Iran, Kashan, Urmia, Sistan and Baluchestan, Tilda, hickory, Orkis, Modified Hungarian cultivar) and the second factor was nanofertilizers use (nano-K chelate, nano- Full micro chelate, nano-Ca chelate (2_0.00), plus a zero control treatment. Traits such as Inulin content, inulin yield, plant height, number of inflorescences, number of seeds per inflorescence, 1000 seed weight, grain yield, biological yield and root yield were measured at the end of the growing season and after harvest in different nano fertilizer spraying treatments. The data analysis was performed using SAS and MSTAT-C software, and the comparison of means was conducted using the Tukey's test (HSD).
 
Results and Discussion
The comparison of the mean interaction effect of chicory genotypes and spraying treatments showed that the Tilda variety with the use of Nano-Ca chelate had the highest grain yield (1462kg.ha^-1), Inulin content (13.60%), Inulin yield (559.7 kg.ha^-1) and Root yield (4114 kg.ha^-1). Hickory genotype Nano-Ca chelate (481.3 kg.ha^-1) was ranked second after Tilda variety. The indigenous ecotypes of Sistan and Baluchistan without the use of nanofertilizers had the lowest grain yield (461 kg.ha^-1) and the indigenous ecotype of northern Iran without the use of nanofertilizers had the lowest amount of inulin (7.06%) (Table 3). It seems that, due to the design of the nanotechnology structure, the Nano-Ca chelate can use the calcium it contains intelligently and at the right time by quickly making nutrients available during the stages of plant growth, helping to increase growth and development of the root system, photosynthetic capacity, development of plant cover, increase in absorption process, production of cultured material and decrease in physiological removal rate of flowers, grain yield, inulin content, root yield and inulin yield (Prasad et al., 2012). In general, the results of the research showed that the inulin yield of the indigenous stands of Iran was minimized due to their low inulin percentage and weak root yield.
 
Conclusion
According to the soil analysis of the place where the experiment was carried out, the amount of absorbable Ca was less than the amount of K, it seems that the spraying of Nano-Ca chelate increases the components of grain yield, Inulin content, inulin yield, root yield and biological yield. The amount of inulin extracted from foreign chicory was relatively superior to the inulin extracted from native Iranian chicory. It seems necessary to introduce new plant sources and cultivars for extracting and exploiting inulin with the aim of reducing inulin import costs, domestication of foreign varieties and commercialization.