Emirates Journal of Food and Agriculture 38: e184824, doi: 10.3897/ejfa.2026.184824
Yield and growth response of romaine lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. var. longifolia) to liquid digestates derived from different animal excrements
Miguel Angel Barrena Gurbillón‡, Merbelita Yalta Chappa‡, Wildor Gosgot Angeles‡, Percy Zuta Castillo‡, Mariel del Rocío Chotón Calvo‡, Juan Carlos Renteria Rojas‡, Milton Américo Huanes Mariños§, Homar Santillan Gomez‡‡ Instituto de Investigación para el Desarrollo Sustentable de Ceja de Selva de la Universidad Nacional Toribio Rodríguez de Mendoza de Amazonas, Chachapoyas, Peru§ Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Privada Antenor Orrego, Trujillo, Peru
Corresponding author: Homar Santillan Gomez ( homar.santillan@untrm.edu.pe ) Academic editor: Nadia El Alami El Hassani © Miguel Angel Barrena Gurbillón, Merbelita Yalta Chappa, Wildor Gosgot Angeles, Percy Zuta Castillo, Mariel del Rocío Chotón Calvo, Juan Carlos Renteria Rojas, Milton Américo Huanes Mariños, Homar Santillan Gomez. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Citation:
Barrena Gurbillón MA, Yalta Chappa M, Gosgot Angeles W, Zuta Castillo P, Chotón Calvo MR, Renteria Rojas JC, Huanes Mariños MA, Santillan Gomez H (2026) Yield and growth response of romaine lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. var. longifolia) to liquid digestates derived from different animal excrements. Emirates Journal of Food and Agriculture 38: e184824. https://doi.org/10.3897/ejfa.2026.184824 |  |
Abstract
The intensive use of synthetic fertilizers in horticultural systems has raised environmental and economic concerns, prompting the search for sustainable alternatives for nutrient management. Liquid digestates derived from the anaerobic digestion of animal manure represent a promising option within circular economy frameworks. This study evaluated the growth and yield response of romaine lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. var. longifolia) to liquid digestates derived from guinea pig, pig, and cattle manure in northeastern Peru. A completely randomized design with a factorial arrangement was used, considering digestate type, application dose (2%, 4%, and 6% v/v), and application frequency (every 7 and 10 days). Growth and yield traits, including plant height, collar diameter, fresh weight, and number of leaves, were evaluated at commercial maturity. Significant differences among treatments were observed for all evaluated variables. The highest overall agronomic response was obtained with pig-manure digestate applied at 6% every 10 days (T12), reaching 28.00 ± 1.01 cm in plant height, 3.45 ± 0.35 cm in collar diameter, 790.83 ± 77.51 g of fresh weight per plant, and 51.08 ± 1.62 leaves per plant. Application frequency had a limited effect, although the 10-day interval produced the best overall response when combined with pig-manure digestate at the highest dose. These results indicate that liquid digestates, particularly pig-manure digestate, may serve as a promising alternative nutrient source for romaine lettuce grown under alkaline highland greenhouse conditions.
Keywords
Anaerobic digestion, circular nutrient management, greenhouse horticulture, manure valorization, phosphorus availability, protected cultivation