A master's thesis at Kirkuk University discusses the effect of foliar spraying with seaweed extract with zinc and iron on Ziziphus spina-christi seedlings.

The College of Agriculture, University of Kirkuk, discussed a master’s thesis on the effect of foliar spraying with seaweed extract 300 Alga and nano-elements zinc and iron on the growth of Sidr seedlings, Ziziphus mauritiana, by the student Dekan Ayoub Saeed, and under the supervision of Assistant Professor Dr. Jassim Muhammad Khalaf.

The study aimed to "improve vegetative growth and stimulate root growth of Sidr seedlings and increase their effectiveness through foliar spraying with seaweed extract 300 Alga, nano-zinc, and nano-iron, and to find the best combination between seaweed extract and nano-fertilizers of zinc and iron to achieve the best growth in Sidr seedlings."

The study concluded that “the binary interaction between marine extract and nano-iron obtained the best results in the studied characteristics.”