Objective

To determine the influence of three shade percentages on the activity of the nitrate reductase enzyme, in Jatropha curcas L. seedlings.

Materials and Methods

For such purpose, three shade levels (30, 50 and 70 %) and a treatment under full sunlight on leaf and root tissues were tested; and the total soluble protein content and activity of the nitrate reductase enzyme were determined. The data were processed through a simple variance and regression analysis. All this was done using the statistical program SPSS® version 22 for Microsoft Windows®.

Results

The values of the nitrate reductase activity were higher in the leaves than in the roots. Differences were observed in the enzyme activity in the leaves, with regards to the evaluated shade percentages. At 30 and 90 days of evaluation a linear relation was found, with R2 = 0,984 and R2 = 0,945, respectively, in which a decrease was observed of the enzymatic activity as the shade percentage increased.

Conclusions

The activity of the nitrate reductase enzyme and the soluble protein decreased linearly with the increase of the shade percentages, which indicates the importance of the high indexes of luminous radiation for the good functioning of nitrogen metabolism in J. curcas.

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