Chapter 1

Background and Purpose of the Study

Introduction

Vegetables are considered good sources of proteins, vitamins, and minerals.

They are widely grown either as monocrops, cash crops after rice or corn or as

intercrops with perennial plantation or fruit crops. Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) is

a solanaceous plant originating from the tropical regions of Asia and has been cultivated

for many centuries by the Chinese and Arabs. Eggplant is grown throughout the year in

the Philippines although the planted area is not very significant and one of the main

production problems is field crop establishment. Germination problems and a reduced

plant stand have been attributed to poor lot quality due to the uneven ripening of

eggplant seeds and fruits, which result in uneven seed germination (Filgueira, 2014).

Therefore, the fertilizer will possibly supply the nutrients needed by the soil in order to

germinate well and produce a high quality growth performance. There are two types of

fertilizer, the organic and inorganic fertilizer. These fertilizers both used as independent

variables for this research study. Fertilizers are expected to have an effect on the test

crop, which is the solanum melongena or commonly known as eggplant. There are 21

varieties of eggplant circulated in the market. Out of the twenty one varieties in the

market, three were found out to be promising under rainy condition. The different

varieties were Eg 01-039, Eg 02-129, Eg 01-199 (Narsico, 2014). Hence, these varieties

are high yielding most preferred by farmers during rainy days.

During the wet season, there is a very high and popular demand of eggplant but farmers

seldom plant this crop because of the high risk due to climatic problems. Therefore, the

researchers used the eggplant seeds that is suitable during rainy season and that is Eg

01-039 and the germination period is about 7-10 days.

The eggplant (Solanum Melongena) is a hanging fruit, stout, annualherd

averaging 1.5 m in height. It has spreading leaves with purple solitary flower arranged

spirally on the leaf axils. The fruit is cylindrically pyramidal capsule usually greenish

purple or completely purple when mature. Seeds are numerous and tiny flat. It is a

nutritious vegetable rich in vitamins and mineral. It is often used in Filipino dishes like

“pinakbet”, “sinigang”, “ kare-kare”, and other soups and sauces. In other countries, it is

coated then fried. Its leaves sometimes serve as feeds for cattle. Seeds are good

source of considerable amount of good quality oil and protein (Filgueira, 2014).

Fertilizer is expected to improve the texture and structure of the soil, thereby

boosting the soil’s ability to retain water, stimulating the soil-life and suppressing

disease causing organism, while providing our plants with the necessary nutrients made

available through the activity of the soil life.

The use of fertilizer has been widely recognized as means of growing rich and

tasty vegetables while organic fertilizers are being produced from different materials and

method yielding varied nutrient analyses and fertilizer characteristics which could

manifest significant effects to plants when applied in the soil. Fertilizers have been used
since the start of agriculture (Narciso, 2008). Fertilizer helps plants grow to be stronger,

healthier and bigger. Fertilizers are simply plant nutrients applied to agricultural fields to

supplement required elements found naturally in the soil (Narciso, 2008).

On the other hand, the Talong (Solanum Melongena) was chosen as the test

crop. This vegetable is one of the major vegetable crops classified under the penakbet

type which is commonly grown in the province of Rizal and in the region as well. The

extent of its production following the 4 kinds of fertilizers is still not know, as such there

is a need to conduct an experiment that will ascertain its performance when fertilized

with different fertilizer materials, hence this study aims to:

Objectives ( this should be the SOP)

1. determine the growth response of eggplant on four (4) kinds of fertilizer

materials and

2. find out the effects of four kinds of fertilizers on the growth performance &

yield components of eggplant.

In accordance with the government program the proper utilization of natural

resources and for the practical use of knowledge in Science and Technology thus

Philippine Constitution Article XIV Section10 states that:

“Science and Technology is essential for national development and process.”

The state shall give more priority to research and development, innovation,
improvement and utilization to the science and technology education, training and
services. It shall support indigenous appropriate and self-reliant scientific and
technology system and national life

The provision states that Science and Technology shall give more priority on

research, invention and improve its utilization, for the benefits of not only the concerned

individuals but also those who directly used such invention on research.

Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction

Plants are important for human and environment because they provide food, air, shelter

and medicines and livelihood.

This research will study it will explain the effect of Aspirin in the growth performance of a

the plant. Aspirin, also known as acetylsalicylic acid is a pharmaceutical drug which

belongs to the family of salicylates (salicylic acids –denoted as SA). It is a colorless

crystalline organic acid and used in synthesis. It is also a plant hormone known for

stimulating the growth performance of plants, their development, transpiration, and

photosynthesis.

The plant hormone is a natural compound which affects the plants physiological

processes. Aspirin contains an active ingredient known as salicylic acid which is taken

from willow bark tree. Chili peppers (capsicum annum) is a member of nightshades
family which is related to bell peppers, tomatoes, potatoes and willow bark that are rich

with various vitamins, minerals and antioxidant that have health benefits.

The relationship between connection of aspirin and to chili peppers is that the aspirin

enhance the immune system of plants especially those in the night shades, which is one

of families of chili peppers. Tap water is included used in the study because it is usually

used in watering plants. Aspirin dissolved in water triggers the plant defenses against

diseases and have positive effects to boost the growth performance of the plants.

Background of the study

Plants is one of the essential things in human life, it absorbs carbon dioxide and release

oxygen that is essential for cellular respiration for all aerobic organisms including

humans. Plants also provide many products for human use, such as firewood, timber,

fibers, medicines, pesticides, oils, rubber and many more. Humans and animals

obviously cannot live without plants. In This study it will determine explain the Growth

performance of Chili pepper in response to aspirin dissolve in water. Plants synthesize

a multitude of secondary metabolites for their primary metabolisms. Plants used the

metabolites in a variety of activities like defense, protection, adaptation to the

environment, survival and reproduction. An important class of plants secondary

metabolites is phenolic compound which composed of salicylic acid (SA), which is an

aromatic organic compound that can be used for medical purpose and plant production.

Commercial manufactured a form of salicylic acid is acetyl salicylic acid or aspirin

(Mitchell 2011).
According to Mitchell (2011) Acetylsalicylic acid is hydrolyzes completely to its agent

(SA) which is a phenolic compound of secondary metabolites. Secondary metabolites

are also called specialized metabolites or natural products that responsible for the

protection or defense mechanism against various foreign invaders. Aspirin or

Acetylsalicylic acid is commonly used as medicine remedy for their headache, fever and

other ailment. Aside from but other than that aspirin can also help to improve, increase

and speed up plant production.

Salicylic acid the active component of aspirin triggers a plants defense

used in watering plants. Aspirin dissolved in water triggers the plant defenses against

diseases and have positive effects to boost the growth performance of the plants.

Salicylic acid the active component of aspirin triggers a plants defense against

diseases. Salicylic acid (SA) well known signaling molecule plays a role in local and

systemic acquired resistance against pathogens as well as in acclimation to certain

abiotic stressors. As a stress related signaling compound, it may directly or indirectly

affect various physiological processes, including photosynthesis (Pal et al. 2013),

The discovery raises the possibility of protecting plants from fungal bacterial and viral

infections by activating plants natural defenses. It also suggests that salicylic acid

behaves like a hormone, and may trigger other processes inside plants. Plants are

considered good source of protein, vitamins and minerals. Vegetables and fruits contain

plant chemicals. These biological substances can help protect humans from some

diseases. Scientific research shows that if you regularly eat lots of fruits and vegetables
you will have a lower risk of having diabetes, stroke, heart (cardio vascular) disease,

cancer and high blood pressure (hypertension).

On the other hand, Chili peppers (Capsicum annuum) are the fruits of Capsicum pepper

plants, notable for their hot flavor. They are members of the nightshade family, related

to bell peppers and tomatoes. Many varieties of chili peppers exist, such as cayenne

and jalapeño. Chili peppers are primarily used as a spice and can be cooked or dried

and powdered, red chili peppers are known as paprika. Capsicum is the main bioactive

plant compound in chili peppers, responsible for their unique, pungent taste and many

of their health benefits. The purpose of this study is to determine find out the positive

effect of aspirin to the plant growth and also we want to know what happens when you

aspirin is dissolved in tap water and use the solution to water in different plants.