Determination of the effects of olive oil solid waste on bean and sunflower plants? growth

Wastes came out after the production of olive oil have become an important source of pollution in the countries producing olive oil, especially in Spain, Italy, Greece, Tunisia, and Turkey for centuries. Beside the storage problem the environmental effects of these wastes have become more important recently, and the studies about their refinement and usage in different fields have increased. Solid waste coming out according to the different production process and varying on account of contents according to the process called ?Pirina? in our country.In this study, olive oil solid waste produced by centrifuge method has been used. Pirina, of which content of organic material is high, is rich in content of some elements which plants need. Having been added of this waste as an organic material to the soil, its effects on growth of bean and sunflower plants have been searched.Two pot experiments were conducted for characterization of plant response to direct application of olive oil solid waste (OSW) to the soil. Experimental design was randomized block design with four replications. OSW was mixed with soil (CL) at the rates of 0, 3, 5, and 7% w/w. Five sunflower (Syngenta Sanay variety) and five bean (Asgrow variety) seeds were sown in each pot, then their growth were observed. After the period of 45 days for sunflower and 30 days for bean, some physiological and morphological parameters such as chlorophyll contents, plant height, plant thickness etc. have been examined. Harvested plants were dried for 48 hours at 65 oC and ground with plant grinder. In the grinded bean and sunflower plants, Plant carbon/nitrogen (C/N), some macro elements; nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and micro elements; boron (B), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu) contents were determined and their effects of the application of olive oil solid waste on bean and sunflower plants have been investigated.Keywords: Olive oil solid waste, Sunflower, Bean, Macro and Micro elements