Paper · 2025 · Science & Technology Journal

Enhancing Tomato Plant Growth and Soil Health through Application of Biochar Derived from Microcystis aeruginosa (Cyanobacteria)

R. LALREMDIKA; Ruthi Lalmuanzeli; Chawngthantluangi; et al.

8
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Open access · cc-by

Abstract

This research investigated the potential of biochar derived from the cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa as a soil amendment for improving tomato plant growth and soil health. M. aeruginosa was cultivated in a semi-continuous culture system, and its biomass was converted into biochar through pyrolysis. The biochar was then applied to soil planted with tomato seedlings. The results demonstrated that biochar application significantly enhanced various tomato plant growth parameters, including germination rate, root length, shoot length, leaf length, number of leaves per plant, and water use efficiency. Furthermore, biochar application led to increased chlorophyll a, b and total chlorophyll content in the tomato plants. The study also revealed positive impacts of biochar on soil properties. Biochar application improved soil pH by shifting it from acidic to neutral and increased soil moisture content. Soil microbial populations, including both bacteria and fungi, exhibited significant growth after biochar amendment. Additionally, the activity of soil enzymes, such as soil acid phosphatase and soil dehydrogenase, was enhanced by biochar application. Moreover, biochar application resulted in increased soil content of essential plant nutrients, including nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K). These findings suggest that biochar derived from M. aeruginosa holds promise as a sustainable soil amendment for promoting tomato plant growth and improving overall soil health.

Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record; open copy licensed cc-by. Read at the source ↗

The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.

Claims 8

Intervention effectobservedoriginal resultpositivesignificant (as stated)measured

Claim · model-written summary

Biochar significantly improved tomato germination rate, root length, and shoot length.

Treatment
biochar applicatione0
Outcome
germination rate, root length, shoot lengthe0
Direction
enhancede0

Not reportedComparator

Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Solanum lycopersicum
Solanum lycopersicum · TaxonKod B · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗

Verbatim

e0

“biochar application significantly enhanced various tomato plant growth parameters, including germination rate, root length, shoot length, leaf length, number of leaves per plant, and water use efficiency”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 404–607 · show in text ↑
Intervention effectobservedoriginal resultpositivesignificant (as stated)measured

Claim · model-written summary

Biochar significantly improved tomato leaf length, leaf count, and water use efficiency.

Treatment
biochar applicatione0
Outcome
leaf length, number of leaves per plant, and water use efficiencye0
Direction
enhancede0

Not reportedComparator

Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Solanum lycopersicum
Solanum lycopersicum · TaxonKod B · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗

Verbatim

e0

“biochar application significantly enhanced various tomato plant growth parameters, including germination rate, root length, shoot length, leaf length, number of leaves per plant, and water use efficiency”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 404–607 · show in text ↑
Intervention effectobservedoriginal resultpositivemeasured

Claim · model-written summary

Biochar increased tomato chlorophyll a, b, and total chlorophyll content.

Treatment
biochar applicatione0
Outcome
chlorophyll a, b and total chlorophyll contente0
Direction
increasede0

Not reportedComparator

Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Solanum lycopersicum
Solanum lycopersicum · TaxonKod B · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗

Verbatim

e0

“biochar application led to increased chlorophyll a, b and total chlorophyll content in the tomato plants”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 622–726 · show in text ↑
Intervention effectobservedoriginal resultpositivemeasured

Claim · model-written summary

Biochar shifted soil pH from acidic to neutral.

Treatment
Biochar applicatione0
Outcome
soil pHe0
Direction
improvede0
Qualifier
from acidic to neutrale0

Not reportedComparator

Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Solanum lycopersicum
Solanum lycopersicum · TaxonKod B · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗

Verbatim

e0

“Biochar application improved soil pH by shifting it from acidic to neutral”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 800–874 · show in text ↑
t0

“Tomato Plant”

✓ located verbatim in the source · title, characters 10–22 · show in text ↑
Intervention effectobservedoriginal resultpositivemeasured

Claim · model-written summary

Biochar increased soil moisture content.

Treatment
Biochar applicatione0
Outcome
soil moisture contente0
Direction
increasede0

Not reportedComparator

Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Solanum lycopersicum
Solanum lycopersicum · TaxonKod B · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗

Verbatim

e0

“Biochar application improved soil pH by shifting it from acidic to neutral and increased soil moisture content”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 800–910 · show in text ↑
t0

“Tomato Plant”

✓ located verbatim in the source · title, characters 10–22 · show in text ↑
Intervention effectobservedoriginal resultpositivesignificant (as stated)measured

Claim · model-written summary

Biochar significantly increased soil bacterial populations.

Treatment
biochar amendmente0
Outcome
Soil microbial populations, including both bacteria and fungie0
Direction
growthe0

Not reportedComparator

Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Solanum lycopersicum
Solanum lycopersicum · TaxonKod B · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗

Verbatim

e0

“Soil microbial populations, including both bacteria and fungi, exhibited significant growth after biochar amendment”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 912–1027 · show in text ↑
t0

“Tomato Plant”

✓ located verbatim in the source · title, characters 10–22 · show in text ↑
Intervention effectobservedoriginal resultpositivemeasured

Claim · model-written summary

Biochar enhanced soil acid phosphatase and dehydrogenase activity.

Treatment
biochar applicatione0
Outcome
activity of soil enzymes, such as soil acid phosphatase and soil dehydrogenasee0
Direction
enhancede0

Not reportedComparator

Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Solanum lycopersicum
Solanum lycopersicum · TaxonKod B · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗

Verbatim

e0

“the activity of soil enzymes, such as soil acid phosphatase and soil dehydrogenase, was enhanced by biochar application”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 1043–1162 · show in text ↑
t0

“Tomato Plant”

✓ located verbatim in the source · title, characters 10–22 · show in text ↑
Intervention effectobservedoriginal resultpositivemeasured

Claim · model-written summary

Biochar increased soil nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.

Treatment
biochar applicatione0
Outcome
soil content of essential plant nutrients, including nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K)e0
Direction
increasede0

Not reportedComparator

Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Solanum lycopersicum
Solanum lycopersicum · TaxonKod B · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗

Verbatim

e0

“biochar application resulted in increased soil content of essential plant nutrients, including nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K)”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 1174–1316 · show in text ↑
t0

“Tomato Plant”

✓ located verbatim in the source · title, characters 10–22 · show in text ↑

biochar · growth · Solanum lycopersicum (tomato)Results differ

80 papers: 71 positive, 9 negative or no effect

70 papers in the same direction as this paper · 8 in the opposite direction · 1 reporting no difference from an alternative

  1. no effect
  2. negative
  3. negative

76 papers more in this group

See all 80 papers →

biochar · soil: chemistry · Solanum lycopersicum (tomato)Positive and negative results

8 papers: 7 positive, 1 negative or no effect

6 papers in the same direction as this paper · 1 in the opposite direction

  1. no effect
  2. positive
  3. positive

4 papers more in this group

See all 8 papers →

biochar · physiology: pigments · Solanum lycopersicum (tomato)Positive and negative results

13 papers: 12 positive, 1 negative or no effect

11 papers in the same direction as this paper · 1 in the opposite direction

  1. no effect
  2. positive
  3. positive

9 papers more in this group

See all 13 papers →

biochar · soil: biology · Solanum lycopersicum (tomato)Positive and negative results

15 papers: 14 positive, 1 negative or no effect

13 papers in the same direction as this paper · 1 reporting no difference from an alternative

  1. no effect
  2. positive
  3. positive

11 papers more in this group

See all 15 papers →

biochar · nutrient: content · Solanum lycopersicum (tomato)Positive and negative results

18 papers: 16 positive, 2 negative or no effect

15 papers in the same direction as this paper · 2 in the opposite direction

  1. no effect
  2. no effect
  3. positive

14 papers more in this group

See all 18 papers →

biochar · physiology: enzyme activity · Solanum lycopersicum (tomato)Results agree

4 papers: 4 positive, 0 negative or no effect

3 papers in the same direction as this paper

  1. positive
  2. positive
  3. positive
See all 4 papers →

biochar · quality: grain · Solanum lycopersicum (tomato)Results agree

7 papers: 7 positive, 0 negative or no effect

6 papers in the same direction as this paper

  1. positive
  2. positive
  3. positive

3 papers more in this group

See all 7 papers →

other · soil: biology · Solanum lycopersicum (tomato)Results agree

11 papers: 11 positive, 0 negative or no effect

10 papers in the same direction as this paper

  1. positive
  2. positive
  3. positive

7 papers more in this group

See all 11 papers →

8 of 9 groups shown: named compounds and organisms first, then groups whose results differ (checked claim by claim), then those with positive and negative results, then the smaller groups.

Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.