Chemical Composition and Bioactive Properties of Purple French Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) as Affected by Water Deficit Irrigation and Biostimulants Application

Ângela Fernandes,José Pinela,Tiane C Finimundy,Nikolaos Tzortzakis,Spyridon A Petropoulos,Sara Figueiredo,Marija Ivanov,Isabel C F R Ferreira,Marina Soković,Lillian Barros

doi:10.3390/su13126869

Abstract

Biostimulants are a novel and eco-friendly agronomic tool with practical applications in alleviating negative effects of environmental stressors. The present work studied the effects of three biostimulant products (Nomoren (N), Twin-Antistress (TW), and X-Stress (XS)) under normal irrigation (W+) and water deficit irrigation conditions (W−) on the nutritional, chemical composition and bioactive properties of common bean fresh pods. A variable effect of biostimulants and water deficit irrigation was observed on nutritional value parameters, while fructose and sucrose were the main detected sugars, especially in NW+ and CW− treatments. Oxalic, malic, and citric acid were the main detected organic acids, while γ- and total tocopherol content was the highest in TWW+. (+)-Catechin and (−)-epicatechin were the most abundant phenolic compounds, especially in the NW− treatment. A variable antioxidant capacity was observed for the Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances (TBARS) and Oxidative Haemolysis assays (OxHLIA), while TWW+ extracts showed the best overall results against the tested fungi. In conclusion, the tested biostimulants had a positive effect on chemical composition and bioactivities of purple bean depending on the irrigation regime.

Highlights

IntroductionCommon bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is one of the most important vegetable crops, which is widely used for its edible fruit (pods) and seeds (pulses)
Water deficit resulted in reduced content of fat in plants that received no biostimulants (CW−) and X-Stress treatment, whereas the application of Nomoren (NW+) alleviated the negative effect of water stress since no differences were observed from normally irrigated plants of the same treatment (1.04 g/100 g dw and 1.08 g/100 g dw, respectively)
Carbohydrates and energetic content decreased under water deficit irrigation conditions when biostimulants were applied, whereas no significant differences were observed between CW− and CW+ treatments in both cases

Summary

Introduction

Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is one of the most important vegetable crops, which is widely used for its edible fruit (pods) and seeds (pulses). It is widespread and one of the main crops cultivated in many tropical, subtropical, and temperate areas of the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia [1]. Water scarcity associated with climatic change is a severe risk to global agriculture because the crop productivity is highly dependent on irrigation management, regimes, and water quality [3]. This problem is aggravated in horticultural crops, which are more sensitive to water deficit than other

Methods

Results

Conclusion