Effect of root inoculation with Mycorrhizal fungus and foliar spraying with Moringa leaf extract on some vegetative characteristics and concentration of the active substance in Citrullus Colocynthis fruits

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted in the 2021 agricultural season in one of the agricultural fields in Anbar Governorate - Fallujah district to study the effect of treating roots with different concentrations of Mycorrhizal fungi and foliar spraying with different concentrations of Moringa leaf extract and the interaction between them on some vegetative characteristics and concentration of the active substance in Citrullus Colocynthis fruits. The experiment was carried out in a randomized complete block design R.C.B.D with three replications for each treatment. The experiment included 16 treatments resulting from the control treatment, inoculation with three concentrations of mycorrhizal fungi, foliar spraying with three concentrations of moringa leaf extract and the interaction between them, the averages were compared using the least significant difference L.S.D at a probability level of 0.05. The results showed that the inoculation of roots with mycorrhizal fungi gave significant differences in the studied traits, as the inoculation treatment with mycorrhizal fungi at concentration (20 g) for each plant achieved the highest values for some of the traits studied, which significantly outperformed the control treatment without addition in each of the number of flowers, leaf content of Chlorophyll and concentration of active substances (Citrullol, Cucurbitacine, Colocynthine, Colocynthitine). While foliar spraying with Moringa leaf extract at treatment (200 g/L) gave the best results for the characteristics of number of flowers, chlorophyll content of leaves and concentration of active substances (Cucurbitacine, Colocynthine), while the treatment