Abstract
Efficient and sustainable nitrogen (N) management is critical for addressing the dual challenges of maximizing productivity and mitigating environmental impacts in short-cycle crops like lettuce (Lactuca sativa). This study evaluates the agronomic performance and nutrient dynamics of eight N fertilizer treatments, including mechanochemically synthesized urea-based cocrystals, conventional urea, and mechanochemically synthesized carbonate salts alongside accessible digital phenotyping methods for a greenhouse-grown romaine lettuce system. Plant growth, biomass production, chlorophyll content, and soil N residues were measured in conjunction with digital image-derived spectral indices from traditional photography. Engineered sulfate cocrystals (zinc sulfate urea and copper sulfate urea) performed comparable to or better than urea in promoting growth and N use efficiency, while engineered carbonates displayed moderate responses, likely due to slower N release. Traditional image-based indices such as normalized green-red difference index, hue angle, and green color distance metric, as well as more unique visual calculations, effectively captured plant nutritional status and correlated with chlorophyll levels. Principal component and cluster analyses further distinguished treatment performance based on growth and color metrics. These findings demonstrate the potential of combining novel N delivery systems with low-cost phenotyping technologies to transform sustainable nutrient management practices across diverse crop systems.
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Claims 5
Claim · model-written summary
Engineered zinc and copper sulfate urea cocrystals performed comparable to or better than urea in promoting lettuce growth and N use efficiency.
- Taxon
- lettuce
Lactuca sativat0 - Treatment
- Engineered sulfate cocrystals (zinc sulfate urea and copper sulfate urea)e1
- Outcome
- growth and N use efficiencye1
- Direction
- comparable to or better thane1
- Comparator
- ureae1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“lettuce development”
e1“Engineered sulfate cocrystals (zinc sulfate urea and copper sulfate urea) performed comparable to or better than urea in promoting growth and N use efficiency”
Claim · model-written summary
Engineered carbonates gave moderate lettuce responses, likely due to slower N release.
- Taxon
- lettuceLactuca sativat0
- Treatment
- engineered carbonatese2
- Outcome
- moderate responsese2
- Qualifier
- likely due to slower N releasee2
Not reportedComparatorDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“lettuce development”
e2“engineered carbonates displayed moderate responses, likely due to slower N release”
Claim · model-written summary
Image-based colour indices effectively captured lettuce nutritional status when compared with chlorophyll levels.
- Taxon
- lettuceLactuca sativat0
- Outcome
- plant nutritional statuse3
- Qualifier
- effectively capturede3
- Comparator
- chlorophyll levelse4
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“lettuce development”
e3“Traditional image-based indices such as normalized green-red difference index, hue angle, and green color distance metric, as well as more unique visual calculations, effectively captured plant nutritional status”
e4“correlated with chlorophyll levels”
Claim · model-written summary
Traditional image-based indices were correlated with lettuce chlorophyll levels.
- Taxon
- lettuceLactuca sativat0
- Compound
- chlorophyll levelse4
- Outcome
- Traditional image-based indicese3
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“lettuce development”
e3“Traditional image-based indices such as normalized green-red difference index, hue angle, and green color distance metric, as well as more unique visual calculations, effectively captured plant nutritional status”
e4“correlated with chlorophyll levels”
Claim · model-written summary
Principal component and cluster analyses distinguished treatment performance based on growth and colour metrics.
- Taxon
- lettuceLactuca sativat0
- Outcome
- treatment performancee5
- Qualifier
- based on growth and color metricse5
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“lettuce development”
e5“Principal component and cluster analyses further distinguished treatment performance based on growth and color metrics”
The same questions in other papers
copper(II) sulfate · growth · Lactuca sativa (garden lettuce)Positive and negative results
1 in the opposite direction
- negative
sulfate · growth · Lactuca sativa (garden lettuce)Positive and negative results
2 in the opposite direction
- negative
- negative
zinc sulfate · growth · Lactuca sativa (garden lettuce)Results agree
3 papers in the same direction as this paper
- positive
- positive
- positive
nitrogen · growth · Lactuca sativa (garden lettuce)Results differ
59 papers in the same direction as this paper · 22 in the opposite direction · 3 reporting no difference from an alternative
- positive
- no effect
- negative
81 papers more in this group
See all 85 papers →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.