Chlorophyll as a measure of plant health: Agroecological aspects

Abstract

As photosynthesis is the basic process during which light energy is absorbed and converted into organic matter, the importance of the plant pigment chlorophyll (a and b forms) as an intermediary in transformation of the absorbed solar energy and its activity in the process of photosynthesis and synthesis of organic substances in plants are crucial. Therefore, this paper provides an overview of methods for monitoring the optical activity of chlorophyll molecules and methods (non-destructive and destructive) for quantification of chlorophyll in plants. These methods are used to estimate the effects of different stress factors (abiotic, biotic and xenobiotic) on the efficiency of photosynthesis and bioproductivity, aiming to assess the impact that these limiting factors have on the yield of various cultivars. Also, those methods for analysis of chlorophyll optical activity and/or content are appropriate for assessing the reaction of weed species to different agricultural practices (mineral nutrition, treatment by herbicides, etc.) and studies of different aspects of weed ecophysiology and their influence on crop harvest.

Kako je proces fotosinteze osnovni proces tokom kojeg se svetlosna energija apsorbuje i konvertuje u organsku materiju, ključni je značaj postojanja biljnog pigmenta hlorofila (a i b forma) kao posrednika u transformaciji apsorbovane svetlosne energije i njegove aktivnosti u procesu fotosinteze i sinteze organskih materija kod biljaka. Stoga je u radu dat pregled metoda za praćenje optičke aktivnosti molekula hlorofila, kao i metoda (nedestruktivnih i destruktivnih) kvantifikacije hlorofila u biljkama. Ove metode se primenjuju u proceni uticaja različitih stresnih faktora (abiotskih, biotskih i ksenobiotskih) na efikasnost fotosinteze i bioproduktivnost biljaka, sa ciljem procenjivanja uticaja koji ovi ograničavajući faktori imaju na prinos useva. Takođe, pomenute metode za analizu optičke aktivnosti i/ili sadržaja hlorofila su odgovarajuće i za procenu reakcije korova na različite poljoprivredne prakse (mineralna ishrana, primena herbicida i sl.) i ispitivanje različitih aspekata ekofiziologije korova i procenu njihovog uticaja na prinos useva.