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Effects of soaps and detergents wastes on seed germination, flowering and

fruiting of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) and Okra (Abelmoschus
esculentus) plants

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Article-2

Eco. Env. & Cons. 17 (1) : 2011; pp. (6-10)

Copyright@ EM International

Effects of soaps and detergents wastes on seed

germination, flowering and fruiting of tomato
(Lycopersicon esculentum) and Okra (Abelmoschus
esculentus) plants
*P.O. Fatoba, K.S. Olorunmaiye and A.O. Adepoju

Department of Plant Biology, University of Ilorin, Ilorin,Kwara State, Nigeria.

ABSTRACT
The effects of wastes generated in Global Soaps and Detergents factory, Ilorin were investigated on the
growth and fruitability of Lycopersicon esculentum and Abelmoschus esculentus .Viable seeds of these two
fruit vegetables were sown in loamy soil stocked into pots perforated at the bottoms. The wastes were
collected before the discharge to the water body, analysed for heavy metals electrometrically and were
serially diluted with borehole water to give 100%,75%,50%,25%,20%,10% ,5%and 1% solutions. Each of
these waste waters was used to irrigate four (4) pots, two (2) per plant, twice a week. The treatments were
monitored for germination and growth and plant stands in each treatment thinned to two (2) after a week
of germination. The experiment was carried out in the Screen house in the Biological Garden, University
of Ilorin, Ilorin , Kwara State Nigeria. It was observed that only the waste water of less than 50% and less
25% concentrations supported the germination of Okra and Tomato seeds respectively. Moreover, only
the Okra and Tomato plants irrigated with 1%, 5%, and 10% waste water flowered after 37 days and 76 days
of planting respectively. In addition, only the plants in the 1% and 5% regimes fruited after 42 days and 81
days of planting respectively. Tomato fruits produced in 1% regime ripened after 96 days of planting like
the Control regime while the 5% treatment ripened two days later. All the plants irrigated with 1%, 5%
and 10% had greener colouration than the Control throughout the study period. Lower concentrations of
this waste, 5% and less are recommended for irrigation in the production of these two vegetables. This
shows that waste water that contains 0.029 mg/l Pb,0.041mg/l Zn,0.332mg/l Fe,0.071mg/l Cd,0.076mg/
l Cu and 0,0015mg/l Hg or less were able to support the vegetative and reproductive growth of tomato
and okra.

Key words : Soap, Detergent, Lycopersicon esculentum, Abelmoschus esculentus,fruitability.

Introduction surface flow which affect the vegetation and water

Many industries are sited in different parts of world
in order to produce goods for commercial and do-
mestic purposes. Most of these industries produce
waste effluents which contain high concentrations
of organic impurities and toxic inorganic substances
without any kind of pre-treatment before discharge
into the environment. The polluted effluents of these
industries are carried away through the drains or by
bodies close to these drains. Moreover, human activi-
ties generate domestic and industrial wastes that
may be adequately treated in Wastewater Treatment
Plant (WTP) to remove the harmful pollutants, mini-
mizing adverse effects to the environment, prevent-
ing pollution and protecting the public health
(Fernandez et al., 1995; Ratsak et al., 1996). The inad-
equate management of these residues or wastes can
have harmful consequences on human health

*Corresponding author: pofatoba@unilorin.edu.ng

FATOBA ET AL
(Ratsak et al., 1996).
Epstein et al (1976) reported that plant nutrients
such as phosphates and nitrates are pollutants that
enter the hydrosphere in runoff from fertilized fields,
municipal sewage and industrial effluents. They in-
dicted phosphate containing detergents as the prin-
cipal offenders in municipal sewage contributing
about 70% of phosphorous present. In the presence
of favourable factors such as temperature, pH, sun-
light, more than 0.01 mg/L phosphate and 10.1 mg/
L nitrate speed up micro organism growth and
thereby greatly accelerating eutrophication of natu-
ral waters (Fortney et al., 2001). Mulkerrins et al.,
(2004) reported that eutrophication affects aesthetics
in lakes ,rivers resulting into odour and apparent
problems. Other effects of eutrophication are the
presence of algal toxic to animals such as cattle, af-
fects the taste of water, plug filteration units and
raise the costs of water treatment (Strotmann et al.,
1994).
Soaps and detergents are cleansing products
made from surface active agents and a variety of in-
gredients, which may include bar soaps and liquid
gels for cleaning the hands, face or body; detergent
powders or cakes for laundry cleaning purposes,
household cleansers for cleaning household items,
such as furniture, glass, plastic items etc and dish
cleaning products for washing kitchen utensils and
dishes (Charles and Walter, 2007). They identified
fats, alkalis, glycerin, sulfactants or surface active
agents, detergents builders, detergent boosters, deter-
gent fillers, rinse agents, film removers, lime and rust
removers, emulsifiers, dry cleaning fluid, condition-
ing agents ,bleaches and compounds and ammonia.
Reclaimed water can be used for irrigation pur-
poses as it is an important source of nutrients for
poor- fertility soil. It is prohibited to use reclaimed
water for irrigating vegetables that are eaten un-
cooked (raw) and to use sprinkler irrigation except
for irrigating golf courses which should be practiced
at night and the sprinklers must be of movable type
and not accessible for day use (ALPHA, 1998). AL-
PHA (1998) reported that the use of reclaimed water
for fruits harvesting and any falling fruits in contact
with the soil must be removed. Presently, an increase
in the production of wastes by urban and industrial
activities is giving the environmentalists concerns as
to their disposal. Presently,an increase in the pro-
duction of wastes by urban and industrial activities
is giving the environmentalists concerns as to their
disposal. Chander and Brookes (1991) reported that
7
about 60% of the sewage sludge produced in the
United Kingdom amounting to about 18 million
tonnes annually is applied to agricultural soils as
organic manures. Waste water irrigation provides
water, N,P, organic matter to the soil (Siebe, 1998;
Fatih et al., 2007), increased macronutrient contents
and also enhanced macronutrient contents of the
plants (Angin et al., 2005).
The use of waste water for irrigation is increas-
ingly being considered as a technical solution to re-
ducing soil degradation and restoring nutrient con-
tents of soils. Due to limited water supplies, a non
conventional water resources such as treated waste
water must be considered for agricultural and indus-
trial use (Batarseh et al., 1989). In many areas of de-
veloping countries, such as Nigeria, untreated waste
water flows through channels into rivers where it is
diverted by farmers to or used to irrigate small plots
of vegetables and salad crops.The usage of the con-
taminated streams for irrigation pose serious risk.
Use of untreated waste water and water supplies
contaminated with sewage has been indicted as one
of the sources of pathogenic micro-organisms con-
taminating vegetables (Doyle, 1990; Islam et al., 1990;
Wei et al., 1995).Consumption of such vegetables has
resulted in outbreak of diseases (Mead and Grif-
fin,1998; WHO, 2004).
Tomato is a common fruit vegetable consumed by
virtually every Nigerian in the preparation of stew,
soup, food preparations, salad, etc. Falusi (2000) re-
ported that tomato requires soils rich in organic mat-
ter and humidity. He further opined that tomato tol-
erates high acidity, such that lime is not recom-
mended unless the pH is less than 5. Due to the pres-
sure on this vegetable, it is produced throughout the
year. Okra is also a fruit vegetable cooked as draw-
ing soup as accomplishment to pounded yam, garri,
and other local foods. These vegetables are locally
produced and are available throughout the year.
There are some farmers that produce these vegetables
in large quantities during the rainy and dry
seasons.Although, rainfall serves as source of water
to these plants for good, luxuriant growth and high
fruit production. However, irrigation is used to raise
the vegetables during dry season with no knowledge
of the status of the water used. In some instances, the
water used is usually polluted with human activities
and industrial discharges. It is in line with this that
Global soaps and Detergents factory discharges its
wastes into running water, which the local farmers
use for raising these vegetables during the dry sea-
8 Eco. Env. & Cons. 17 (1) : 2011
son. It is therefore imperative to investigate the pollu-
tion status and the effects of this wastewater effluent
on the production of these two common vegetables in
Nigeria.
This submission is in line with the findings
thatsoil type, root stock,mulchin irrigation fertiliza-
tion and other cultural practices influence the water
and nutrient supply to plants, affect the composition
and quality attributes of the harvested plant parts
(Goldman et al., 1990).
This study was carried out to investigate the ef-
fects of the soap and detergent wastes on the produc-
tion of Okra and Tomato.
Materials and Methods
The waste effluent was collected directly from Global
Soaps and Detergent Factory ,Ilorin(GSD) before its
discharge into the water bodies. Seeds of 40 day-
okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) and 80 day- tomato
(Lycopersicon esculentum) were bought from Kwara
State Ministry of Agriculture, Ilorin. The garden soil
was collected, homogenously mixed and packed into
polythene bags. The GSD effluent was collected into
plastic containers and was serially diluted with
borehole water to give 100%, 75%, 50%, 25%, 20%,
10%, 5% and 1%
Viable seeds of okra and tomato were separately
sown into 18 pots, 2 pots per treatment per plant
while 2 pots per plant served as Control. Each of the
diluted effluents was used to irrigate 4 pots,(2 per
plant) and the Control with borehole water used as
the diluents twice a week. The numbers of plants per
pot were thinned to 2 per pot after 6 days of germina-
tion. The day to germination of the seeds, colour of
leaves, day to flower setting, fruiting and ripening of
the fruits were monitored and recorded. This experi-
ment was carried out in the Screen house, Biological
garden, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Kwara State, Nige-
ria. The experiments were replicated twice.
Observations and Results
Table 1 shows the pH and heavy metal contents of
Table 1. The pH and heavy metal contents of the soil, GSD and DCF wastes
Heavy metal concentration (mg/L)
Sample pH Pb
Soil 4.09 0.06
GSD wastes (100%) 10.65 0.58
the soil and the waste used. The soil was acidic but
the waste was alkaline. All the analyzed heavy met-
als were present in both the soil and the waste used
except for Hg that was present only in the latter. All
the metals are much more in the waste than the soil
(Table 1). Table 2 shows the germination, flowering
and fruiting periods in the potted okra irrigated with
the different concentrations of GSD wastewater. It
was found that plants irrigated with 1%, 5%,
10%,20% and 25% GSD waste water had their seeds
germinated after 7 days of seed sowing for 1% and
5%,8 daysfor 10% and 9 days for 20% and 25% treat-
ments. The 50%, 75% and 100% regimes had no
seedgermination (Table 2). The day to germination
recorded for 1% and 5% were the same as the con-
trol. Flowering was first observed in 1%,5% and 10%
treatments after 31 days,32 days and 32 days respec-
tively (Table 2). Table 1 further shows that okra
lrrigated with 1% GSD waste water flowered a day
earlier than the control but those treated with 20%
and 25% died off before flowering. Fruiting was first
observed in 1% and 5% regimes after 36 days of
planting, a day earlier than the control. However, no
successful fruit was produced in 10% regime. The
plants treated with 1% and 5% had deeper green
colouration than even the control throughout the pe-
riod of study (Table 2). Those of 10% regime were
green while those of 20% and 25% were pale green.
Table 3 shows the effects of GSD waste water on
the growth and fruiting of tomato. Plants irrigated
with 1%,5% and 10% had their seeds germinated six
days after planting while those of 20% germinated 8
days after planting (Table 3). Tomato stands irrigated
with 1%,5%, and 10% started flowering after 74
days,76 days and 76 days respectively. The 1% re-
gime had flowers a day earlier than the control. Table
2 further shows that only 1% and 5% treatments pro-
duced fruits after 79 days and 80 days respectively
with 1% having fruits a day earlier than the control.
Moreover, the fruits of the control and 1% started rip-
ening on the 95 th day of planting (Table 3) while
those of 5% was on the 97th day. Plants irrigated
with 1%, 5%,10% and 20% had green leaves
throughout the period of study. It was observed that
Zn Fe Cd Cu Hg
0.21 4.94 0.00 0.17 0.00
0.82 6.65 1.42 1.52 0.03
FATOBA ET AL 9

Table 3. Effects of GSD waste water on the day to germination, flowering and fruiting of Tomato (Lycopersicon
esculentum)
Treatment Seed germination Flowering Fruiting Leaf colour
(day) (day) (day)
Control 6 75 80 Green
1% 6 74 79 Green
5% 6 76 80 Green
10% 6 76 Abscission Green
20% 8 _ _ Green
25% 9 _ _ _
50% _ _ _ _
75% _ _ _ _
100% _ _ _ _

Table 2. Effects of GSD waste water on the day to germination, flowering and fruiting of Okra (Abelmoschus
esculentus) plants.
Treatment Seed germination Flowering Fruiting Leaf colour
(day) (day) (day)
Control 7 32 37 Green
1% 7 31 36 Deep green
5% 7 32 36 Deep green
10% 8 32 Abscission Green
20% 9 _ _ Pale green
25% 9 _ _ Pale green
50% _ _ _ _
75% _ _ _ _
100% _ _ _ _

only the 1% and 5% of the waste water supported the
growth and fruiting of okra and tomato.
Discussion
The result of this study agreed with the findings of
Peters (2000). He discovered that the first result of
toxicity is the reduction in plant growth which later
leads to reduction in yield due to adverse effects on
the reproductive capabilities. This toxicity was
hinged on the presence of heavy metals in the waste
water (Peters, 2000) or other toxic pollutants. The
non germination of okra and tomato in the regimes
of 50% and above treatments could be attributed to
presence of heavy metals (Peters, 2000) or dehydrat-
ing agents such as oleum or tetra oxosulphate IV
acid. Jorgenson (1979) reported that the presence of
sodium sulphate , nitrogen and its oxides and phos-
phate in the detergent effluents produced burning
effects which draws water from the plant roots. This
may be responsible for the non fruiting of 20% and
25% regimes and the 50% and above regimes not
having any seed germination talk less of fruiting.
Furthermore, accumulation of heavy chemical
substances may bring about low transpiration rate
and eventually no transpiration at all, resulting into
wilting of the plants. Fatoba et al (2008) reported that
heavy metals caused some damage to the chloro-
plasts of Barbula lambarenensis. The poor performance
of the okra and tomato irrigated with high concen-
trated waste water may be due to the salinity , pH or
chemical status of the soil. Earlier flowering and
fruiting of plants treated with 1% GSD could be due
to the availability of low concentration of nitrogen or
/and phosphate that were not marred by high con-
centration of heavy metals or pollutants. It is there-
fore possible that lower concentrations less than 1%
may bring about better growth, flowering and fruit-
ing in these two vegetable plants.
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