INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BUSINESS, SOCIAL AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

ISSN: 2309-7892, Volume: 2, Issue: 2, Page: 148-152, October-December, 2014

Short Communication

PERFORMANCE OF BARI TOMATO 14 TO DIFFERENT LEVELS

CHICKEN EGGSHELL AS A SOURCE OF CALCIUM
T. Taufique1 , I.H. Shiam1 , H. Mehraj1 , T. Nishizawa2 and A.F.M. Jamal Uddin*1

T. Taufique, I.H. Shiam, H. Mehraj, T. Nishizawa and A.F.M. Jamal Uddin (2014). Performance of BARI tomato 14 to Different
Levels Chicken Eggshell as a Source of Calcium. Int. J. Bus. Soc. Sci. Res. 2(2): 148-152. Retrieve from
http://www.ijbssr.com/currentissueview/14013068

Received Date: 25/09/2014 Acceptance Date: 10/11/2014 Published Date: 11/11/2014

Abstract
A pot experiment was conducted at Horticulture farm, Department of Horticulture, Sher-e-Bangla
Agricultural University, Dhaka-1207, Bangladesh from October 2013 to March 2014 to study the
performance of BARI tomato 14 to chicken eggshells powders. Eggshell viz. T1 (No eggshell); T2 (100
g/pot eggshell) and T3 (200 g/pot eggshell) were used on the experiment using Completely Randomized
Design with five replications. Tallest plant (87.7 cm), maxi mum number of leaves (85.7/plant), number
of branches (28.0/plant), number of harvested fruit (31.0/plant), single fruit weight (94.0 g), yield (3.1
kg/plant) was found from T2 and maxi mum degree of brix (3.7%), shelf life (13.8 days) from T3 whereas
minimum was found from T1. Minimum number of calcium deficient symptom showing leaves
(4.5/plant) and abnormal fruit (14.2%) was also found from T2. Minimum chlorophyll content (45.2%)
and early flowering (54.3 days) was found from T3 which was statistically identical with T2. Eggshells
are largely disposed of many bioactive compounds which can improve for the growth, yield and quality
of tomato.

Key words: Lycopersicon esculentum, calcium carbonate, growth and yield.

Introduction
Vegetabl es are important crops for additional supply of human nutritional requirem ents and tomato
(Lycopersicon esculentum, Mill.) is one of the most popular vegetable with great nutritive value and
good source of Potassium and Vitamin A and C (Temu and Temu, 2005). The use of soil stabilizer
agents like lime and bitumen are expensive and therefore require an economic repl acement (Amu and
Salami, 2010). Chicken eggshells are waste materi al that can be us ed as an alternative soil stabilizer like
lime since they have the sam e chemical composition (Amu et al., 2005). Use eggshells for
growing tomato plants help in the possible increase of yi eld. Home gardeners can use waste eggshell
would have thrown in the garbage. Eggshells are just one selection that can help pl ants, vegetables,
particularly tomato plants. Eggshells contain high amounts calcium and as they deteriorate, they
replenish the soil with that mineral. Calcium is a necessary mineral for most plants to grow and is
particularly important for tomatoes. It also improves the soils water penetration. If there’s not enough
usable calcium in the soil, plants form abnormal fruits and bulbs. It affects the leaves and making them
deformed. A good quality eggshell will contain, on average, 2.2 g of calcium in the form of calcium
carbonate (CaCO3 ) and approximately 94% o f a dry eggshell is calcium carbonate and has a typical mass
of 5.5 g, and these values di ffer depending on sources (Lechtanski, 2000). The remaining mass is
composed largely of phosphorus and magnesium, and trace amounts of sodium, potassium, zinc,
manganese, iron, and copper. Calcium has an important role on growth, fruit yield and quality (Ho et al.,
1999) for all plants, including tomatoes and helps to neutralize the acids in the cells. Leaf Ca deficiency
in tomato reduces leaf size, and causes necrosis of young leaves and yield loss in extreme cases (Adams
and EL-Gizaway, 1988; Adams and Holder, 1992; Holder and Cockshull, 1990). Low supply of calcium
to tomato fruit leads to more fruit with blossom end rot (BER) (Ho et al., 1999; Saure, 2001). Excessive
supply of calcium to fruit causes goldspeck/goldspot, cells containing a granular mass of tiny calcium
oxalate crystals (De Kreij et al., 1992; Den Outer and van Veenendaal, 1988; Ho et al., 1999), which not
only affects the appearance of the fruit, but also reduces its shel f li fe (Janse, 1988). Calcium is also
reported to increas e nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous absorption in roots, stimulates photosynthesis,
increas es the plant size and improves fruit quality in various vegetables like tomato and sugar beat (Fenn
and Taylor, 1990; Fenn et al., 1991). Considering these point in view, this study was conducted to
evaluate the effect of eggshell as a potential source of calcium on BARI tomato 14.

*Corresponding Authors Email: jamal4@yahoo.com

1
Department of Horticulture, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University , Dhaka-1207, Bangladesh
2
Department of Food, Life, and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Yamagata University , Japan
Taufique et al. 149

Materials and methods

Location and period of the study: A pot experiment was conducted at Horticulture farm, Department of
Horticulture, Sher-e-B angla Agricultural University, Dhaka-1207, Bangladesh from October 2013 to
March 2014.
Treatments of the experiment: Eggshell viz. T 1 (No eggshell); T2 (100 g/pot eggshell) and T3 (200 g/pot
eggshell) were used on the experiment using Completely Randomized Design with five replications.
Genetic materials: Seeds of BARI tomato 14 were collected from Bangl adesh Agricultural Research
Institute, Gazipur, Dhaka, Bangladesh and seedlings were raised on the seedbed at SAU Horticultural
farm.
Pot size: Pots were filled up 7 days before transplanting on 12th October 2013. The size of each pot was
25 cm (10 inches) in diameter and 20 cm (8 inches) in height.
Fertilization: Manures and fertilizers were used as recommended by Bangladesh Agri cultural Research
Institute (Mondal et al., 2011). Entire amount of organic manure, TSP, Gypsum, Borax and hal f of the
MP were applied during final soil preparation. The remaining half of MP and entire urea applied in three
equal installments, 1st at 15 days after planting, 2nd at flowering and the 3rd at fruit maturity stages.
Application eggshells: To make eggshell powder, boil eggshells with membranes in hot water for 5- 10
min to kill pathogens, then air and sun dried for 5 days after that dried in oven at 110° C temperature for
15 min. Eggshells were then grind into fine powder in a blender. The powders of eggshells were used
two times at 20 and 40 days after transplanting for growing tomato plants. Eggshell powders were soaked
in water (1 L for each t reatment ) overnight. After that four holes were made around each plant and
eggshells powders soaked water were poured at the holes.
Parameters and data collection: Data were collect ed on plant height, number of l eaves, number o f
branches, chlorophyll content, days to first flowering (visual obser vation), number of calcium defi cient
symptom showing leaves, percentage abnormal fruit, number of harvest ed fruit, single fruit weight,
yield/plant, calculated yield (t/ha), degree of brix and shelf li fe. Electronic precision balance was used for
measuring fruit weight and yield/plant respectively.
Statistical analysis: Collected data were statistically analyzed using MSTAT-C program and mean was
calculat ed. Di fferences between treatments were evaluated by Least Significance Di fference (LSD) test
at 1% level of significance (Gomez and Gomez, 1984).
Result and discussion
Plant height, number of leaves and number of branches: Plant height, number of leaves and number of
branches was varied signi ficantly among the treatments. Tallest plant was found from T 2 (87.7 cm)
followed by T 3 (81.6 cm) while minimum from T 1 (76.4 cm) (Fig. 1a). Maximum number of leaves was
found from T 2 (85.7/plant) which was followed by T 3 (83.7/plant) while minimum from T 1 (73.4/plant)
(Fig. 1b). Maximum number of branches was found from T 2 (28.0/plant) which was followed by T 3
(24.7/plant) while minimum from T1 (21.3/plant) (Fig. 1c).

32.0
94.0 95.0
Number of branches/plant.
N um be r of le a ve s/ pla nt .

23.0
Pla n t he ig ht ( c m ) .

76.0 70.0
14.0

58.0 45.0
5.0
15 30 45 60

40.0 Days after transplanting (DAT)

20.0
T1 T2 T3

Fig. 1. Effect of eggshells on (a) plant height, (b) number of leaves and (c) number of branches of BARI
tomato 14 [Here, T1 (No eggshell); T 2 (100 g/pot eggshell) and T 3 (200 g/pot eggshell)]

Chlorophyll content and days to flowering: Chlorophyll content and days to flowering showed
significant variation among the treatments. Minimum Chlorophyll content and days to first flowering
was found from T 3 (45.2% and 54.3 days respectively) which were statistically similar with T 2 (45.3%
and 54.6 days respectively) while maximum from T1 (49.5% and 56.0 days respectively) (Table 1).

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BARI tomato 14 as a Source of Calcium for Chicken Eggshell 150

Number of calcium deficient symptom showing leaves, abnormal fruits and number of harvested
fruits: Numbers of calcium defici ent symptom showing leaves, abnormal fruits and number of harvested
fruits per plants showed a statistically significant variation among the treatments. However, minimum
numbers of calcium deficient symptom showing leaves and abnormal fruits were found from T 2
(4.5/plant and 14.2% respectively) which was statistically identical with T3 (5.9/plant and 24.2%
respectively) while minimum from T 1 (21.4/plant and 42.4% respectively) (Table 1). On the other hand
maximum number of harvested fruit was found from T 2 (31.0/plant) followed by T3 (27.8/plant) while
minimum from T 1 (26.7/plant) (Table 1).
Single fruit weight and yield: Single fruit weight and yield of BARI tomato 14 showed signi ficant
variation among the treatments. However, maximum single fruit weight (94.0 g) and yield (3.1 kg/plant
and 93.4 t/ha respectively) while minimum from T1 (single fruit weight 87.7 g; 2.3 kg/plant and 75.8
t/ha) (Table 2).
Degree of brix and shelf life: Degree of brix was statistically identical among the treatments. However,
maximum degree of brix was found from T3 (3.7%) followed by T2 (3.3%) and minimum from T 1 (2.6%)
(Table 2). On the other hand, shelf life of BARI tomato 14 varied significantly among the treatments.
Maximum shelf li fe was found from T 3 (13.8 days) followed by T 2 (12.2 days) while minimum from T 1
(8.1 days) (Table 2).
Table 1. Effect of eggshells on different attributes of BARI tomato 14X
Number of calcium Abnormal Number of
Chlorophyll Days to first
Treatments deficient symptom fruit harvested
content (%) flowering
showing leaves (%)/plant fruits/plant
T1 49.5 a 56.0 a 21.4 b 42.4 a 26.7 c
T2 45.3 b 54.6 b 4.5 a 14.2 c 31.0 a
T3 45.2 b 54.3 b 5.9 a 24.2 b 27.8 b
LSD 0.01 1.7 1.1 3.8 5.1 0.6
CV % 1.0 0.6 1.7 5.1 0.5
X
In a column, means having similar letter(s) are statistically similar and those having dissimilar letter(s)
differ signifi cantly at 0.05 level of probability
Here, T 1 (No eggshell); T 2 (100 g/pot eggshell) and T3 (200 g/pot eggshell)

Table 2. Effect of eggshells on different yield charact eristics of BARI tomato 14X

Single fruit Yield Calculated Degree of brix Shelf life

Treatments
weight (g) (kg)/plant yield (t/ha) (%) (days)
T1 87.7 c 2.3 a 75.8 c 2.6 a 8.1 c
T2 94.0 a 3.1 a 93.4 a 3.3 a 12.2 b
T3 90.8 b 2.9 a 79.5 b 3.7 a 13.8 a
LSD 0.01 0.6 1.3 1.1 1.3 1.3
CV % 0.2 12.3 0.4 10.6 3.0
X
In a column, means having similar letter(s) are statistically similar and those having dissimilar
letter(s) di ffer significantly at 0.05 level of probability
Here, T 1 (No eggshell); T 2 (100 g/pot eggshell) and T3 (200 g/pot eggshell)

Discussion
The main ingredient in eggshells is calcium carbonate (the same brittle white stuff that chalk, limestone,
cave stalactites, sea shells, coral, and pearls are made of). The shell itself is about 95% CaCO3 (which is
also the main ingredient in sea shells). The remaining 5% includes calcium phosphate and magnesium
carbonate and soluble and insoluble proteins (Evanhoe, 2006). Eggshells contain calcium and trace
amounts of other micro elements, i.e. magnesium, boron, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum,
sulphur, silicon and zinc. Eggshell calcium is probably the best natural source of calcium and it is about
90% absorbabl e (Bee, 2011). It is a much better source of calcium than limestone or coral sources. One
teaspoon of eggshell powder contain about 750-800 mgs of el emental calcium (Bee, 2011). Discarded
eggshells are oft en used as a plant fertilizer. Eggshell fertilizer is inexpensive and environm ental
friendly, since the process reuses material to promote plant growth. Ground eggshells are effective liming
sources (John and Paul, 2006). Calcium raises, or neutralizes, the pH level of overly acidic soil. Most
plants prefer slightly acidic soil with a pH between 5.8 and 7.0. Soil amendments of powdered calcium
carbonate resulted in excellent control of Fusarium crown rot of tomato. They further showed that this
control of the Fusarium incited diseases was due to an increase in soil pH (Jones et al., 1990; 1992;
1993). Recent research has revealed that a low cal cium level in the root zone is rarely a limiting factor
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Taufique et al. 151

for the vegetative growth of tomato (Del Amor and Marcelis, 2006). Nevertheless, the cal cium nutrition
of tomato dem ands speci al attention because this nutrient is intimately involved in the occurrence of the
physiological disorder Blossom-end rot (BER), which may considerably reduce fruit quality and market
acceptability (Ho et al., 1993; Grattan and Grieve, 1999). BER is caus ed by a local deficiency of Ca in
the distal part of the fruit, which results in a disruption of tissue structure in that area (Adams, 2002).
Critical fruit Ca concentration associated with the appearance of this disorder has been identifi ed (Ho and
White, 2005). Incidence of BER at an external Ca concentration of 3.75 mM increased linearly with
increasing Mg levels in the root zone, while it was not affect ed by Mg concentration at 7.5 mM Ca (Hao
and Papadopoulos, 2004). Manipulation of the nutrient levels in the root zone or the growth environment
are not adequately effective measures in reducing BER because they affect apoplastic Ca concentration
in fruit tissue indirectly (Ho and White, 2005). Another aspect rel ated to the application of Ca in tomato
cultivation that has recently been studied is its effect on the occurrence of some fungal diseas es. Spraying
of tomato leaves with various combinations of Ca salts was as effective as element al S in reducing
powdery mildew (Erysiphe orontii) colony counts on leaves (Ehret et al., 2002). The suppression of
powdery mildew development in tomato by foliar C a application was ascribed to both osmotic
(concentration) and ion-speci fi c effects. Furthermore, an enhanced supply of cal cium signifi cantly
increas es the resistance of tomato to bacteri al wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum, while highly
resistant cultivars are characterized by a high Ca uptake (Yamazaki et al., 2000).
Conclusion
Eggshell treatment increases the growth and yield characteristics by supplying the cal cium and reduces
the calcium defi cit to the plant. From the current study, application of 100 g/pot eggshell provided the
best result for growth and yield contributing characteristics but 200 g/pot was better for the degree of
brix and shel f li fe of tomatoes. So further study is recommended to the res earcher using eggshell by
evaluating the chemical ingredient and then justified to the production of tomato.
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