UTILIZATION OF FRUIT WASTE LIQUID  ORGANIC FERTILIZER IN INCREASING THE  PRODUCTIVITY OF WHEATGRASS ON  MICROGREENS CULTIVATION

Chatlynbi T. Br. Pandjaitan Kupang State Agricultural Polytechnic, Jl. Prof. Dr. Herman Yohanes, Lasiana-Kupang. 81011, Kupang, Indonesia.
Eko H. A. Juwaningsih Kupang State Agricultural Polytechnic, Jl. Prof. Dr. Herman Yohanes, Lasiana-Kupang. 81011, Kupang, Indonesia.
Rido Djara Kupang State Agricultural Polytechnic, Jl. Prof. Dr. Herman Yohanes, Lasiana-Kupang. 81011, Kupang, Indonesia

Keywords: Wheat grass, microgreens, Liquid Organic Fertilizer, fruit waste

Wheat grass microgreens can be consumed in the form of

juice (Wheatgrass Juice = WGJ) which is an extract from

mature sprouts of wheat seeds harvested during vegetative

development at the age of 7-10 days. Wheatgrass microgreens

are rich in chlorophyll, minerals, antioxidants vitamins, amino

acids various enzymes, phenolic and flavonoids. Fruit waste

has high potential to be used as a source Liquid Organic

Fertilizer (LOF) so soil fertility can be improved with the and

minimize the adverse effects of chemical fertilizer and the risk

of pathogenic micro-organisms contamination from animal

waste based fertilizer. The research method was carried out

on a quantitative base by applying several concentrations of

fruit waste LOF to wheat grass microgreens. This experiment

was designed using a Randomized Block Design with 6

treatments and 4 replications. The treatments of

concentration of LOF application were 0, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25

ml/l. The observed data were further analyzed using Tukey's

test at a test level of 0.05 using the SPSS program. The results

of this study showed the fruit waste LOF treatment (20mL/L of

fruit waste LOF) gave the best results for the parameters of

plant height, vitamin C and plant chlorophyll.