Role of Biostimulants in Horticulture: A Review

Abstract

In recent days, several technological innovations were proposed in order to improve the production and sustainability through a significant reduction in use of agrochemicals. One 0f the best approach to increase crop productivity is the utilisation of environment-friendly organic products such as “Biostimulants”. There are different types of substances that act as biostimulants namely humic and fulvic acid, protein hydrolysates and other N-containing compounds, Seaweed extract and botanicals, Chitosan and other biopolymers, Inorganic compounds, beneficial fungi and bacteria. These biostimulants plays an important role in improving the plant growth, yield and quality of the product. The guava fruits coated with chitosan 1% and stored at 12°C had shown higher firmness, TSS, titratable acidity and maintained greenness with a slow increase in yellow colour by the end of storage. Knowledge on effective use of these biostimulants by understanding their properties has become a challenge to the researchers to improve yield, quality and shelf life of different horticultural products.

Histological and Physiological Study of the Effects of Biostimulants and Plant Growth Stimulants in Viburnum opulus ‘Roseum’

“…In the latter sector, the application is aimed at increasing the vitality and resistance of plants while achieving commercial standards, which is a prerequisite for producing quality commodities [3,4] Based on what has been described so far, the use of natural plant biostimulants (PBs) is a promising and environmentally friendly trend that is gaining increasing importance [5]. PBs also promote and enhance flowering, growth, crop setting, yield and nutrient use efficiency (NUE), in addition to their ability to improve tolerance to environmental factors [6][7][8][9]. The benefits provided also have implications for the use of biostimulants, with their use projected to increase by 10.4% per year globally until 2030 [10].…”