Available online at www.scholarsresearchlibrary.com Scholars Research Library Archives of Applied Science Research, 2016, 8 (10):5-9 (http://scholarsresearchlibrary.com/archive.html) ISSN 0975-508X CODEN (USA) AASRC9 5 Scholars Research Library Effect of Super water absorbent (SWA) hydrogel on productivity and quality of Tomato Salma Sultana 1 , M Asad Shariff 2 , M Afzal Hossain 3 , Affa Khatun 3 and Roksana Huque 3 * 1 Nuclear and Radiation Chemistry Division, Instituteof Nuclear Science and Technology,Atomic Energy Research Establishment, GPO Box-3787, Savar, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh 2 Tandem Accelerator Facilities Division, Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology,Atomic Energy Research Establishment, GPO Box-3787, Savar, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh 3 Food Technology Division, Institute of Food and Radiation Biology, Atomic Energy Research Establishment, GPO Box-3787, Savar, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh ABSTRACT In this work, superwater absorbent hydrogel (SWA) based on polysaccharide was prepared from aqueous solution of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC)/acrylamide with radiation processing technology using Co-60 gamma source at room temperature (~ 27ºC). When SWA is mixed with soil, the morphological study i.e., plant height, weight of roots, number of branch, number of leaves and yield of fruits of tomato plant showed higher values than that of the soil without SWA. It has also been observed that with and without SWA the elemental properties of soil gave almost the same values meaning that adding SWA did not affect the properties of soil. Regarding the quality of fruit, the food value (i. e., protein, ascorbic acid, iron) of green tomato showedno signifcant changes with and without SWA, although the signifcant increase in total phenol content of green tomato grown in SWA mixed soil indicates better antioxidative quality. Keywords: SWA,Co-60 gamma source, morphological study, harvesting INTRODUCTION Super absorbent hydrogels are cross-linked polymers exhibiting unusually high water uptake abilities [1]. These materials have found extensive use mostly in manufacturing of baby diapers [2], sanitary napkins [3] and in agriculture to retain moisture in the soil [4]. In arid and semiarid regions, there is an increasing interest in using water saving superabsorbent polymer (SAP) for feld crop production.The problem of insuffcient use of fertilizer and irrigation water by crops is most important in semiarid and arid regions in the world and application of water-saving super absorbent polymers (SAP) into the soil could be an effective way to increase both water and nutrient use effciency in crops[5, 6]. When polymers are incorporated with soil, it is presumed that they retain large quantities of water and nutrients, which are released as required by the plant. Thus, plant growth could be improved with limited water and nutrient supply [7]. Johnson (1984) reported an increase of 171 to 402% in water retention capacity when polymers were incorporated in coarse sand (Figure 1). Addition of polymer to peat decreased water stress and increased the time to wilt [7,8]. The incorporation of superabsorbent polymer with soil improved soil physical properties [9], enhanced seed germination and emergence [8], crop growth and yields [10]and reduced the irrigation requirements of plants [11, 12].The use of hydrophilic polymer materials as carrier and regular of nutrient release was helpful in reducing undesired fertilizer losses, while sustaining vigorous plant growth [13]. Three classes of superabsorbent polymer are commonly used and are classifed s natural, semi-synthetic and synthetic polymers 13 . Earlier, polymers were not used in the agricultural feld due to their high prices. Recently, many polymer industries developed around northern China and the prices became comparatively cheaper (about 5 USD kg -1 ). Thus, the application of SAP along with reduced rate in the agricultural feld has become a popular water and fertilizer