Abstract
Plant biostimulants are under investigation as innovative products to improve plant production and fruit quality, without resulting in environmental and food contaminations. Here, the effects of the application of Expando, a biostimulant based on seaweed and yeast extracts, on plant productivity, fruit ripening times, and fruit quality of Solanum lycopersicum var. Micro-Tom were evaluated. After biostimulant treatment, a two-week reduction of ripening times and a concomitant enhancement of the production percentage during the earliest ripening times, in terms of both fruit yield (+110%) and size (+85%), were observed. Concerning fruit quality, proximate analysis showed that tomatoes treated with the biostimulant had better nutritional composition compared to untreated samples, since both the quality of unsatured fatty acids (C16:3ω3: +328%; C18:2ω6: −23%) and micronutrients essential for human health (Fe: +14%; Cu: +21%; Zn: +24%) were increased. From a nutraceutical point of view, despite strong changes in bioactive compound profile not being observed, an increase of the antioxidant properties was recorded in fruits harvested by plants treated with the biostimulant (2,2’-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS): +38%; 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH): +11%). In conclusion, the biostimulant application was able to reduce the ripening times and fruit size, while slightly increasing nutritional and nutraceutical values, leading to more marketable tomato fruits.
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Claims 11
Claim · model-written summary
Expando reduced tomato fruit ripening time by two weeks.
- Taxon
- Tomato
Solanum lycopersicumt0 - Treatment
- biostimulant treatmente0
- Outcome
- ripening timese0
- Direction
- reductione0
- Value
- two-weeke0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Tomato”
e0“After biostimulant treatment, a two-week reduction of ripening times”
Claim · model-written summary
Expando increased earliest ripening fruit yield by 110%.
- Taxon
- TomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- biostimulant treatmente0
- Outcome
- fruit yielde0
- Direction
- enhancemente0
- Value
- +110%e0
- Qualifier
- earliest ripening timese0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Tomato”
e0“After biostimulant treatment, a two-week reduction of ripening times and a concomitant enhancement of the production percentage during the earliest ripening times, in terms of both fruit yield (+110%) and size (+85%)”
Claim · model-written summary
Expando increased earliest ripening fruit size by 85%.
- Taxon
- TomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- biostimulant treatmente0
- Outcome
- sizee0
- Direction
- enhancemente0
- Value
- +85%e0
- Qualifier
- earliest ripening timese0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Tomato”
e0“After biostimulant treatment, a two-week reduction of ripening times and a concomitant enhancement of the production percentage during the earliest ripening times, in terms of both fruit yield (+110%) and size (+85%)”
Claim · model-written summary
Treated tomato fruit C16:3ω3 content increased by 328% relative to untreated samples.
- Taxon
- TomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- the biostimulante0
- Outcome
- C16:3ω3e0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Value
- +328%e0
- Comparator
- untreated samplese0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Tomato”
e0“tomatoes treated with the biostimulant had better nutritional composition compared to untreated samples, since both the quality of unsatured fatty acids (C16:3ω3: +328%; C18:2ω6: −23%) and micronutrients essential for human health (Fe: +14%; Cu: +21%; Zn: +24%) were increased”
Claim · model-written summary
Treated tomato fruit C18:2ω6 content decreased by 23% relative to untreated samples.
- Taxon
- TomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- the biostimulante0
- Outcome
- C18:2ω6e0
- Value
- −23%e0
- Comparator
- untreated samplese0
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Tomato”
e0“tomatoes treated with the biostimulant had better nutritional composition compared to untreated samples, since both the quality of unsatured fatty acids (C16:3ω3: +328%; C18:2ω6: −23%) and micronutrients essential for human health (Fe: +14%; Cu: +21%; Zn: +24%) were increased”
Claim · model-written summary
Treated tomato fruit Fe increased by 14% relative to untreated samples.
- Taxon
- TomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- the biostimulante0
- Outcome
- Fee0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Value
- +14%e0
- Comparator
- untreated samplese0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Tomato”
e0“tomatoes treated with the biostimulant had better nutritional composition compared to untreated samples, since both the quality of unsatured fatty acids (C16:3ω3: +328%; C18:2ω6: −23%) and micronutrients essential for human health (Fe: +14%; Cu: +21%; Zn: +24%) were increased”
Claim · model-written summary
Treated tomato fruit Cu increased by 21% relative to untreated samples.
- Taxon
- TomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- the biostimulante0
- Outcome
- Cue0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Value
- +21%e0
- Comparator
- untreated samplese0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Tomato”
e0“tomatoes treated with the biostimulant had better nutritional composition compared to untreated samples, since both the quality of unsatured fatty acids (C16:3ω3: +328%; C18:2ω6: −23%) and micronutrients essential for human health (Fe: +14%; Cu: +21%; Zn: +24%) were increased”
Claim · model-written summary
Treated tomato fruit Zn increased by 24% relative to untreated samples.
- Taxon
- TomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- the biostimulante0
- Outcome
- Zne0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Value
- +24%e0
- Comparator
- untreated samplese0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Tomato”
e0“tomatoes treated with the biostimulant had better nutritional composition compared to untreated samples, since both the quality of unsatured fatty acids (C16:3ω3: +328%; C18:2ω6: −23%) and micronutrients essential for human health (Fe: +14%; Cu: +21%; Zn: +24%) were increased”
Claim · model-written summary
Biostimulant treatment did not cause strong changes in tomato fruit bioactive compound profile.
- Taxon
- TomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Outcome
- bioactive compound profilee0
- Direction
- not being observede0
Not reportedTreatmentComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Tomato”
e0“despite strong changes in bioactive compound profile not being observed”
Claim · model-written summary
Biostimulant treatment increased tomato fruit ABTS antioxidant activity by 38%.
- Taxon
- TomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- the biostimulante0
- Outcome
- ABTSe0
- Direction
- increasee0
- Value
- +38%e0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Tomato”
e0“an increase of the antioxidant properties was recorded in fruits harvested by plants treated with the biostimulant (2,2’-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS): +38%; 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH): +11%)”
Claim · model-written summary
Biostimulant treatment increased tomato fruit DPPH antioxidant activity by 11%.
- Taxon
- TomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- the biostimulante0
- Outcome
- DPPHe0
- Direction
- increasee0
- Value
- +11%e0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Tomato”
e0“an increase of the antioxidant properties was recorded in fruits harvested by plants treated with the biostimulant (2,2’-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS): +38%; 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH): +11%)”
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