Variations in the effects caused by magnetic field on chlorophyll, nitrogen, calcium, and iron contents in species of vegetable plants

Abstract

The rates of reduction in chlorophyll and nutrients such as nitrogen, calcium and iron with the distance or range of source of Magnetic Field (MF) had not been considered. In this work, patterns of damage or reduction caused by a magnetic field on two different species of vegetables were studied. The first group was planted in an environment without the influence of MF, while the second group was subjected to high MF under the 330 kV electric lines. The magnetometer was used to measure the MF intensities. The chlorophyll content of each vegetable sample was determined on the field with a portable chlorophyll meter. The dried harvested samples of two different vegetable species were analyzed using an Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS) to assess the concentrations of nitrogen (N), calcium (Ca), and iron (Fe) in the samples. Results of elemental concentrations were subjected to statistical analysis to appraise the relationships between the measured variables as responses to high MF. It was observed that the effects of high MF are stronger on spinach vegetable than Lagos spinach. This suggested that the effects of MF on plants are not only MF intensity dependent, but also species-dependent.

Keywords: Magnetic field; Exposure; Regression analysis; Power transmission; Chlorophyll; Iron