Abstract
In recent years, soil addition with organic amendments, such as biochar and compost, has gained attention as an effective agronomic practice to sustain soil fertility, enhance plant growth and crop yield. Well known are the positive effects of compost on yield of a wide crop varieties, while both positive and negative responses are reported for biochar Therefore, the aim of the study was to verify the effect of biochar mixed with three types of compost on quanti-qualitative response of Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris L. cycla), a leafy green vegetable rich in dietary antioxidants, largely consumed worldwide. A factorial experiment in pots with two factors, including biochar (without biochar and with biochar from vine pruning residues) and compost (without compost, with compost from olive pomace, with vermicompost from cattle manure, and with compost from cattle anaerobic digestate), was setup. Two growth cycles were considered, and a set of quantitative (height of plants, number, area and fresh weight of leaves) and qualitative parameters (carotenoids, chlorophyll, total N, and NO3−content of leaves) were analyzed. Biochar decreased plant growth and NO3− leaf content; on the contrary, it increased total N leaf content, while compost improved all the considered parameters. The interactive effect of biochar and compost was evident only on total N and NO3− leaf content. In our experimental conditions, the compost showed to be the best option to improve Swiss chard growth and increase the content of phytopigments, while the biochar-compost mixtures did not produce the expected effect.
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Claims 7
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar decreased plant growth.
- Taxon
- Swiss Chard
Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgarist0 - Treatment
- Biochare0
- Outcome
- plant growthe0
- Direction
- decreasede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“Biochar decreased plant growth and NO3− leaf content; on the contrary, it increased total N leaf content, while compost improved all the considered parameters”
t0“Swiss Chard”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar decreased NO3− leaf content.
- Taxon
- Swiss Chard
Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgarist0 - Treatment
- Biochare0
- Outcome
- NO3− leaf contente0
- Direction
- decreasede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“Biochar decreased plant growth and NO3− leaf content; on the contrary, it increased total N leaf content, while compost improved all the considered parameters”
t0“Swiss Chard”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar increased total N leaf content.
- Taxon
- Swiss Chard
Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgarist0 - Treatment
- Biochare0
- Outcome
- total N leaf contente0
- Direction
- increasede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“Biochar decreased plant growth and NO3− leaf content; on the contrary, it increased total N leaf content, while compost improved all the considered parameters”
t0“Swiss Chard”
Claim · model-written summary
Compost improved measured growth and leaf composition parameters.
- Taxon
- Swiss Chard
Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgarist0 - Treatment
- composte0
- Outcome
- all the considered parameterse0
- Direction
- improvede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“Biochar decreased plant growth and NO3− leaf content; on the contrary, it increased total N leaf content, while compost improved all the considered parameters”
t0“Swiss Chard”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar and compost interacted only for leaf total N and nitrate content.
- Taxon
- Swiss Chard
Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgarist0 - Treatment
- biochar and composte0
- Outcome
- total N and NO3− leaf contente0
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“The interactive effect of biochar and compost was evident only on total N and NO3− leaf content”
t0“Swiss Chard”
Claim · model-written summary
Compost was judged best for Swiss chard growth and phytopigment content.
- Taxon
- Swiss chard
Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgarise0 - Treatment
- composte0
- Outcome
- best option to improve Swiss chard growth and increase the content of phytopigmentse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“the compost showed to be the best option to improve Swiss chard growth and increase the content of phytopigments”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar-compost mixtures did not produce the expected effect.
- Taxon
- Swiss Chard
Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgarist0 - Treatment
- biochar-compost mixturese0
- Outcome
- expected effecte0
- Direction
- did not producee0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“the biochar-compost mixtures did not produce the expected effect”
t0“Swiss Chard”
The same questions in other papers
biochar · growth · Beta vulgaris (beet)Positive and negative results
4 in the opposite direction
- positive
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1 paper more in this group
See all 5 papers →biochar · nutrient: content · Beta vulgaris (beet)Results agree
3 papers in the same direction as this paper
- positive
- positive
- positive
Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.