Effect of monosodium glutamate on the growth of solanum melongena / Hafwanis Awang ... [et al.]

Solanum melongena is one of the vegetable crops broadly planted and has high demand,
especially in Asia. Nowadays, chemical fertilizer was used to fulfill the demand as it function
to speed up the plant’s growth. However, prolonged use may create an imbalance of soil
nutrients and discourage decomposition in soil microbes. Recently, monosodium glutamate
(MSG) which is commonly known as food flavoring was reported to be used as alternative
fertilizer due to the high content of nitrogen. However, the MSG used was from wastewater of
MSG factory which may have the unknown component. Hence, the aim of this study is to
determine the optimum concentration of pure MSG (Ajinomoto) towards the growth of S.
melongena and how it affects the pH of the soil. The plants were treated by using 1.5g/L,
2.0g/L, 2.5g/L of MSG three times per week for seven weeks. The growth parameters were the
plant’s height, number of leaves and width of leaves. The result suggests that the height for all
treatment were significantly higher compared to control. All treatment also shows a
significantly higher number of leaves compared to the control group except for those with 1.5
g/L treatment. However, no significant difference in leaf width observed from all treatments
compared to control. There are no significant changes in soil pH when MSG was used in this
study. Hence, the study showed that MSG gives a significant positive effect on S. melongena
and can be used as an alternative fertilizer to reduce the usage of chemical fertilizer.