The Opportunity of Valorizing Agricultural Waste, Through Its Conversion into Biostimulants, Biofertilizers, and Biopolymers

Puglia, Debora; Pezzolla, Daniela; Gigliotti, Giovanni; Torre, Luigi; Bartucca, Maria Luce; Buono, Daniele Del

doi:10.3390/su13052710

Cited by 99 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 150 publications

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“…Furthermore, PBs, for their ability to efficiently improve plant nutrient acquisition, could permit reductions in the use of chemical fertilizers routinely employed in agriculture. Consequently, this could also promote the environmental sustainability of agriculture, thanks to the possible reduction in synthetic compounds consumed in large amounts by this activity [ 71 ]. Although PBs were initially adopted in horticulture, to date, these substances have been used to stimulate beneficial effects in a wide range of crops.…”

Section: Plant Biostimulantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of Biostimulants as a New Approach for the Improvement of Phytoremediation Performance—A Review

Bartucca

Cerri

Buono

et al. 2022

Plants

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Environmental pollution is one of the most pressing global issues, and it requires priority attention. Environmental remediation techniques have been developed over the years and can be applied to polluted sites, but they can have limited effectiveness and high energy consumption and costs. Bioremediation techniques, on the other hand, represent a promising alternative. Among them, phytoremediation is attracting particular attention, a green methodology that relies on the use of plant species to remediate contaminated sites or prevent the dispersion of xenobiotics into the environment. In this review, after a brief introduction focused on pollution and phytoremediation, the use of plant biostimulants (PBs) in the improvement of the remediation effectiveness is proposed. PBs are substances widely used in agriculture to raise crop production and resistance to various types of stress. Recent studies have also documented their ability to counteract the deleterious effects of pollutants on plants, thus increasing the phytoremediation efficiency of some species. The works published to date, reviewed and discussed in the present work, reveal promising prospects in the remediation of polluted environments, especially for heavy metals, when PBs derived from humic substances, protein and amino acid hydrolysate, inorganic salts, microbes, seaweed, plant extracts, and fungi are employed.

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Section: Plant Biostimulantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of Biostimulants as a New Approach for the Improvement of Phytoremediation Performance—A Review

Bartucca

Cerri

Buono

et al. 2022

Plants

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“…Several aspects of agriculture system can become more innovative and efficient by relying, for example, on nanotechnology tools [18,19]. Indeed, nanotechnology combined with circular economy can represent a green alternative to conventional plant-protection strategies by ensuring food security in a sustainable way [20,21]. This novel approach allows one to obtain highly technological nanometric materials, such as nanopesticides, starting from agro-industrial wastes [22][23][24].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Circular Hazelnut Protection by Lignocellulosic Waste Valorization for Nanopesticides Development

et al. 2022

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Hazelnut represents a relevant agro-food supply chain in many countries worldwide. Several biological adversities threaten hazelnut cultivation, but among them bacterial blight is one of the most feared and pernicious since its control can be achieved only by prevention through the observation of good agricultural practices and the use of cupric salts. The aim of this work was to evaluate the lignocellulosic biomasses obtained from hazelnut pruning and shelling residues as a renewable source of cellulose nanocrystals and lignin nanoparticles and to investigate their antimicrobial properties against hazelnut bacterial blight. Cellulose nanocrystals were obtained through an acid hydrolysis after a chemical bleaching, while lignin nanoparticles were synthesized by a solvent–antisolvent method after an enzymatic digestion. Both collected nanomaterials were chemically and morphologically characterized before being tested for their in vitro and in vivo antibacterial activity and biocompatibility on hazelnut plants. Results indicated the selected biomasses as a promising starting material for lignocellulosic nanocarriers synthesis, confirming at the same time the potential of cellulose nanocrystals and lignin nanoparticles as innovative tools to control hazelnut bacterial blight infections without showing any detrimental effects on the biological development of treated hazelnut plants.

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“…Biostimulants can also increase plant resistance to abiotic stresses of various types, the ability to cope with detrimental conditions, and maintain productivity (Panfili et al 2019b). In addition, the use of biostimulants can also lead to significant reductions in agrochemical inputs, limiting the environmental pressure of the farming systems (Puglia et al 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physiological and Biochemical Effects of an Aqueous Extract of Lemna minor L. as a Potential Biostimulant for Maize

Buono

Bartucca

Ballerini

et al. 2021

J Plant Growth Regul

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Biostimulants are receiving increasing attention for their beneficial effects on crops, driving interest in identifying new plant extracts that could exert such stimulatory effects. This work aimed to evaluate the potential of an aqueous extract obtained from duckweed (Lemna minor L.), a freshwater species, to act as a biostimulant in maize. For this purpose, duckweed plants were collected from a natural basin and then transferred, stabilized, and grown under controlled conditions. The duckweed extract was first characterized through untargeted profiling, which revealed an abundance of bioactive phytochemicals. A relatively high amount of low-molecular-weight secondary metabolites such as phenolics (6714.99 mg kg−1) and glucosinolates (4563.74 mg kg−1) were present in the plant extract. Maize seeds were primed with different concentrations of this extract (0.01%, 0.05%, 0.50%, and 1.00%, dry weight/water volume), and some physiological and biochemical traits of the crop were recorded. The duckweed extract improved maize germination, biomass, leaf area, pigment content, and vigor index. The most effective treatment was the 0.50% concentration, which improved the majority of the measured growth traits. The extract at concentrations of 0.05%, 0.50%, and 1.00% stimulated the assimilation of nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na), iron (Fe), and copper (Cu). In summary, this study revealed that duckweed is a promising species that can be cultured and grown under controlled conditions for obtaining extracts with biostimulant properties.

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The Opportunity of Valorizing Agricultural Waste, Through Its Conversion into Biostimulants, Biofertilizers, and Biopolymers

Cited by 99 publications

References 150 publications

Use of Biostimulants as a New Approach for the Improvement of Phytoremediation Performance—A Review

Use of Biostimulants as a New Approach for the Improvement of Phytoremediation Performance—A Review

Circular Hazelnut Protection by Lignocellulosic Waste Valorization for Nanopesticides Development

Physiological and Biochemical Effects of an Aqueous Extract of Lemna minor L. as a Potential Biostimulant for Maize

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