Sustainable Agronomic Strategies for Enhancing the Yield and Nutritional Quality of Wild Tomato, Solanum Lycopersicum (l) Var Cerasiforme Mill

Abstract

Urbanization and global climate change have constrained plant development and yield. Utilization of wild gene pool, together with the application of sustainable and eco-friendly agronomic crop improvement strategies, is being focused on to tackle mounting food insecurity issues. In this aspect, the green seaweed, Ulva flexuosa, was assessed for plant biostimulant potential on cherry tomato, in terms of seed priming effects, nutrition and yield. SEM-EDX analysis of U. flexuosa presented the occurrence of cell wall elements (O, Na, Mg, S, Cl, K and Ca). The phytochemical analyses of liquid seaweed extract (EF-LSE) revealed the presence of carbohydrates, protein, phenols, flavonoids, saponins, tannins and coumarins. The EF-LSEs were found to stimulate seed germination in a dose-dependent manner, recording higher seed germination, and biomass and growth parameters. The seedlings of treated seeds altered the biochemical profile of the fruit, in terms of TSS (93%), phenol (92%), lycopene (12%) and ascorbic acid (86.8%). The EF-LSEs positively influenced fruit yield (97%). Henceforth, this investigation brings to light the plant biostimulant potential of the under-utilized seaweed source, U. flexuosa, to be useful as a bio fertilizer in agronomic fields for a cumulative enhancement of crop vigour as well as yields to meet the growing food demands.

Dynamic of Phenolic Compounds, Antioxidant Activity, and Yield of Rhubarb under Chemical, Organic and Biological Fertilization

“…The positive influence of biological fertilizers on the content of polyphenols has also been demonstrated in species such as tomatoes [44,45] or peppers [46][47][48].…”

From Emergence to Flowering: Four Beet (Beta vulgaris ssp.) Cultivars’ Phenological Response to Seed Priming

“…The most important factor in these is the priming agent, which can be either water or chemical. Depending on the priming agent, this enhancement technique can be done as hydro priming, osmo priming, bio priming, hormone priming, thermal priming, or solid matrix priming [2,28,29,[32][33][34][35][36][37]. The key factors in this procedure are the imbibition time and osmotic potential.…”

Mineral composition of beetroot treated with potential elicitors and inoculated with Meloidogyne javanica

“…Other research has already shown the potential of resistance inducers, such as methyl salicylate, to increase the seedling emergence and plant growth in different cultivars of rice, however, with a dose-dependent effect in relation to cultivars [17]. In addition, the use of environmentally friendly bio-fertilisers, such as algae extracts, improve plant development, with an increase in germination and seedling vigour [3,4] and in the levels of phenols and ascorbic acid [3]. The fact that uninoculated potential elicitors-treated beetroots had similar or poorer vegetative development than untreated plants can be explained by the energy expended to activate defence mechanisms.…”

“…In this context, some environmentally friendly practices that improve the nutritional status of the plant, can favour the vegetative development and, consequently, minimise the damage caused by pathogens, allowing greater absorption of nutrients and gain in productivity [4,5,16]. Furthermore, due to the recent restrictions on the use of chemical nematicides and the lack of effective alternatives for nematode control, extensive research has been conducted in an effort to find novel control strategies.…”