Author(s)

Majida Mcheik^1,2,3, Joumana Toufaily^1,2, Mariam Akil^1,2, Tayssir Hamieh^1,2, Marie Therese Abi Saab⁴, Bachar Haj Hassan², Youssef Rouphael⁵

¹Laboratory of Materials, Catalysis, Environment and Analytical Methods Labortory (MCEMA), Ecole Doctorale des Sciences et de Technologies (EDST), FS (Science Faculty), Lebanese University, Hadath, Lebanon.
²Laboratoire des Etudes Appliquées au Développement Durable et Energie Renouvelable (LEADDER), PRASE, EDST, Université Libanaise, Hadath, Liban.
³Ministry of Agriculture, Bir Hassan, Lebanon.
⁴Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute, Fanar, Lebanon.
⁵University of Naples, Naples, Italy.

A study was conducted in the Bekaa valley of Lebanon aiming to produce spinach leaves with treated effluent from Joub Janine plant under two growing seasons. Two experiments were laid out in a randomized complete block design. The effect of water quality on the qualitative, quantitative aspects and microbiological contamination of leaves was assessed. The results showed that the treated wastewater from Joub Janine plant was of category III. The highest mean marketable yields was recorded for T7 (4727 g·m^-2) followed by T6 (3533 g·m^-2) that were drip irrigated with treated wastewater. The uptake of K, Mg, Na and Cl was significantly 49.09%, 30.20%, 96.79% and 33.20%, respectively, higher in the spring than in autumn. The nitrate levels in all treatments and seasons were below the maximum level in foodstuffs as provided by the European Commission regulations. For the lipophilic fraction, there was no significant difference among treatments and also among treatments and seasons interacting together and the highest hydrophilic fraction and total phenols levels recorded for the autumn rather than the summer season. In general, pathogenic bacteria was absent on spinach leaves for all treatments and growing seasons.

Treated Wastewater, Spinach Cultivation, Mineral Composition, Qualitative Parameters

Mcheik, M., Toufaily, J., Akil, M., Hamieh, T., Saab, M.T.A., Hassan, B.H. and Rouphael, Y. (2018) Reuse of Treated Municipal Wastewater under Different Growing Seasons for the Spinach Production. American Journal of Analytical Chemistry, 9, 482-499. doi: 10.4236/ajac.2018.910036.