Abstract
Algal biostimulants are increasingly integral to vegetable cultivation due to their capacity to boost yield, alleviate abiotic and biotic stress, and enhance overall crop quality. This study evaluated the impact of two commercially available algal-based biostimulants on cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.), examining their effects on yield, number of fruits, dry weight, color, flesh thickness, skin thickness, plastid pigments, and tocopherol content. Both biostimulant treatments resulted in a roughly 13% decrease in yield and fruit number compared to the control treatment. Notably, the biostimulants positively influenced the fruit brightness parameter (L*), leading to darker fruits. Fitostim® algal biostimulant exhibited a positive effect on dry weight during the initial harvest. The predominant pigments were chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b (constituting 80% of all analyzed pigments), and the most abundant tocopherol was α-tocopherol, comprising 80% to 90% of tocopherols. Skin tissues contained significantly higher levels of pigments and tocopherols compared to flesh. Both biostimulants caused a notable decrease in total tocopherol content in the skin at the first harvest, with reductions of 19.91 mg/kg DW for Phylgreen® and 9.43 mg/kg DW for Fitostim® algae. The study underscores the variable efficacy of biostimulants, emphasizing their dependence on the specific biostimulant type and fruit part. The application of biostimulants has the potential to substantially enhance the internal quality of cucumbers, particularly in terms of plastid pigments and tocopherols, offering potential health benefits for consumers.
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Claims 9
Claim · model-written summary
Biostimulants reduced cucumber yield about 13% versus control.
- Taxon
- cucumber
Cucumis sativust0 - Treatment
- biostimulant treatmentse0
- Outcome
- yielde0
- Direction
- decreasee0
- Value
- roughly 13%e0
- Comparator
- control treatmente0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Both biostimulant treatments resulted in a roughly 13% decrease in yield and fruit number compared to the control treatment”
t0“cucumber”
Claim · model-written summary
Biostimulants reduced cucumber fruit number about 13% versus control.
- Taxon
- cucumberCucumis sativust0
- Treatment
- biostimulant treatmentse0
- Outcome
- fruit numbere0
- Direction
- decreasee0
- Value
- roughly 13%e0
- Comparator
- control treatmente0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Both biostimulant treatments resulted in a roughly 13% decrease in yield and fruit number compared to the control treatment”
t0“cucumber”
Claim · model-written summary
Biostimulants produced darker cucumber fruits.
- Taxon
- cucumberCucumis sativust0
- Treatment
- biostimulantse0
- Outcome
- fruit brightness parameter (L*)e0
- Direction
- darkere0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“the biostimulants positively influenced the fruit brightness parameter (L*), leading to darker fruits”
t0“cucumber”
Claim · model-written summary
Fitostim improved cucumber dry weight at initial harvest.
- Taxon
- cucumberCucumis sativust0
- Treatment
- Fitostim® algal biostimulante0
- Outcome
- dry weighte0
- Direction
- positive effecte0
- Qualifier
- initial harveste0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Fitostim® algal biostimulant exhibited a positive effect on dry weight during the initial harvest”
t0“cucumber”
Claim · model-written summary
Chlorophyll a and b constituted 80% of measured pigments.
- Taxon
- cucumberCucumis sativust0
- Outcome
- chlorophyll a and chlorophyll be0
- Value
- 80%e0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The predominant pigments were chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b (constituting 80% of all analyzed pigments)”
t0“cucumber”
Claim · model-written summary
Alpha tocopherol comprised 80% to 90% of tocopherols.
- Taxon
- cucumberCucumis sativust0
- Outcome
- α-tocopherole0
- Value
- 80% to 90%e0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“the most abundant tocopherol was α-tocopherol, comprising 80% to 90% of tocopherols”
t0“cucumber”
Claim · model-written summary
Cucumber skin had more pigments and tocopherols than flesh.
- Taxon
- cucumberCucumis sativust0
- Organ / stage
- Skin tissuese0
- Outcome
- pigments and tocopherolse0
- Direction
- highere0
- Comparator
- fleshe0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Skin tissues contained significantly higher levels of pigments and tocopherols compared to flesh”
t0“cucumber”
Claim · model-written summary
Phylgreen decreased first-harvest skin tocopherol by 19.91 mg/kg DW.
- Taxon
- cucumberCucumis sativust0
- Organ / stage
- skine0
- Treatment
- Phylgreen®e0
- Outcome
- total tocopherol contente0
- Direction
- decreasee0
- Value
- 19.91 mg/kg DWe0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Both biostimulants caused a notable decrease in total tocopherol content in the skin at the first harvest, with reductions of 19.91 mg/kg DW for Phylgreen® and 9.43 mg/kg DW for Fitostim® algae”
t0“cucumber”
Claim · model-written summary
Fitostim decreased first-harvest skin tocopherol by 9.43 mg/kg DW.
- Taxon
- cucumberCucumis sativust0
- Organ / stage
- skine0
- Treatment
- Fitostim® algaee0
- Outcome
- total tocopherol contente0
- Direction
- decreasee0
- Value
- 9.43 mg/kg DWe0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Both biostimulants caused a notable decrease in total tocopherol content in the skin at the first harvest, with reductions of 19.91 mg/kg DW for Phylgreen® and 9.43 mg/kg DW for Fitostim® algae”
t0“cucumber”
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