Abstract
Research has been increasingly focusing on the environmentally friendly biostimulation of vegetable crop performances under sustainable farming management. An experiment was carried out in southern Italy on Diplotaxis tenuifolia to assess the effects of two plant biostimulants (Legume-derived protein hydrolysate, Trainer®; Tropical plant extract, Auxym®) and a non-treated control, in factorial combination with three crop cycles (autumn–winter; winter; and winter–spring) on leaf yield, photosynthetic and colour status, quality, elemental composition, antioxidant content and activity. Both biostimulants prevalently contain amino acids and soluble peptides, showing the major effects on crop performances, though Auxym also has a small percentage of phytohormones and vitamins. The biostimulants enhanced plant growth and the productivity of perennial wall rocket. The winter–spring cycle led to higher leaf yield than the winter one. The two plant biostimulants enhanced leaf dry matter, oxalic and citric acids, Ca and P concentrations, phenols and ascorbic acid content as well as antioxidant activity, but did not increase nitrate content. A presumed mechanism involved in the enhancement of crop production could be attributed to the improvement of mineral nutrient availability and uptake. The winter–spring cycle elicited higher antioxidant content and activity than winter crops. Our current study shows that both the legume-derived protein hydrolysate and tropical plant extract represent an effective tool for boosting the yield, nutritional and functional quality of vegetable produce in the view of sustainable crop systems.
Highlights
Perennial wall rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia (L.) DC.) is an important leafy vegetable crop mostly cultivated in greenhouses, with Italy being the European leader in the production of this species, addressed both to the fresh market and baby leaf industry, with an estimated surface area of about
40° 49′ N, 14°15′E; 72 m a.s.l.) in 2016–2017 and 2017–2018 growing seasons on perennial wall rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia (L.) DC.) cultivar ‘Nature’, in an unheated greenhouse made of three spans covered (Diplotaxis tenuifolia (L.) DC.) cultivar ‘Nature’, in an unheated greenhouse made of three spans with a long-life thermal polyethylene film, with an overall width of 15.0 m, length 30.0 m and heights covered with a long-life thermal polyethylene film, with an overall width of 15.0 m, length 30.0 m of 2.0 and 3.5 m at the wall and roof, respectively
From research carried out in greenhouses in southern Italy, we found that the foliar applications of two types of natural plant biostimulants, i.e., legume-derived protein hydrolysate or tropical plant extract, enhanced yield, photosynthetic and colour status, quality attributes, the content of Ca, P, phenols and ascorbic acid, and antioxidant activity of perennial wall rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia (L.)
Summary
Perennial wall rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia (L.) DC.) is an important leafy vegetable crop mostly cultivated in greenhouses, with Italy being the European leader in the production of this species, addressed both to the fresh market and baby leaf industry, with an estimated surface area of about4800 ha in 2018 [1]. Plant biostimulants are substances and/or microorganisms representing an innovative environmentally friendly tool for valorising plant nutrition, strengthening the response to abiotic stressors, modulating the quality of edible plant parts [5], boosting and stabilizing yield [6,7,8,9,10]. These compounds are defined as “CE marked products which stimulate plant physiological processes independently on their nutrient content by improving one or more of the following characteristics of the plant rhizosphere or phyllosphere: (i) nutrient use efficiency;
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