Abstract
Water deficit is one of the most problematic stressors worldwide. In this context, the use of biostimulants represents an increasingly ecological practice aimed to improve crop tolerance and mitigate the negative effects on the productivity. Here, the effect derived from the foliar application of ERANTHIS®®, a biostimulant based on seaweed (Ascophyllum nodosum and Laminaria digitata) and yeast extracts, was tested on tomato plants grown under mild water-stress conditions. The potential stress mitigation action was evaluated by monitoring morphometric (fresh weight and dry matter content), physiological (stem water potential) and biochemical (ROS scavenger enzymes activity, proline, abscisic acid, hydrogen peroxide and photosynthetic pigment content) parameters closely related to the occurrence and response to stress at both flowering and fruit-set timing. In general, we observed that plants grown under drought conditions and treated with the biostimulant had a lower amount of ABA, and MDA and proline correlated to a lower activity of ROS scavenger enzymes compared to untreated plants. These data, together with the higher stem water potential and photosynthetic pigment levels recorded for the treated plants, suggest that ERANTHIS®® may mitigate water stress effects on tomato.
Highlights
Nowadays, the lack of water represents one of the most spread abiotic stressors worldwide [1,2]
In order to limit the negative effects of abiotic stresses, chemical fertilizers and other polluting formulations have been widely used as agriculture practices [7]
After observing the effects of water stress and its related plant responses, we evaluated whether ERANTHIS®® treatments were able to modulate the level of the analyzed enzymatic and non-enzymatic parameters under stress conditions
Summary
The lack of water represents one of the most spread abiotic stressors worldwide [1,2]. In order to limit the negative effects of abiotic stresses, chemical fertilizers and other polluting formulations have been widely used as agriculture practices [7] Despite their use positively affecting the growth and agricultural yields of plants grown under adverse environmental conditions, this approach has resulted in other problems, including the massive contamination of the soil and atmosphere [8]. One of the possible solutions is represented by biostimulants These formulations belong to a new generation of products, and are able to positively regulate plant physiological processes and increase abiotic stress tolerance [10,11]. The effects of seaweed extracts application may be ascribed to the synergistic activity of some compounds, such as hormones, betaines, polyamines, alginates, carrageenans, fucans and phlorotannins [14,15]
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