The Use of a Plant-Based Biostimulant Improves Plant Performances and Fruit Quality in Tomato Plants Grown at Elevated Temperatures

Abstract

Abiotic stresses can cause a substantial decline in fruit quality due to negative impacts on plant growth, physiology and reproduction. The objective of this study was to verify if the use of a biostimulant based on plant and yeast extracts, rich in amino acids and that contains microelements (boron, zinc and manganese) can ensure good crop yield and quality in tomato plants grown at elevated temperatures (up to 42 °C). We investigated physiological responses of four different tomato landraces that were cultivated under plastic tunnel and treated with the biostimulant CycoFlow. The application of the biostimulant stimulated growth (plants up to 48.5% taller) and number of fruits (up to 105.3%). In plants treated with the biostimulant, antioxidants contents were higher compared to non-treated plants, both in leaves and in fruits. In particular, the content of ascorbic acid increased after treatments with CycoFlow. For almost all the traits studied, the effect of the biostimulant depended on the genotype it was applied on. Altogether, the use of the biostimulant on tomato plants led to better plant performances at elevated temperatures, that could be attributed also to a stronger antioxidant defence system, and to a better fruit nutritional quality.

Toward a Sustainable Agriculture Through Plant Biostimulants: From Experimental Data to Practical Applications

“…Different physiological and molecular responses of tomato to water limitation were recorded depending on microbial inocula, confirming the importance to characterize the optimal plant/beneficial microorganism genotype combination(s) to enhance plant resilience to water stress condition. Non-microbial plant biostimulants such as amino acids/peptides-based product and protein hydrolysates can also be considered an effective tools to improve the tolerance to a wide range of abiotic stresses: heat, hypotoxic, nutrient and salt stresses as well as combined environmental stresses [53,54]. The application of biostimulant based on plant and yeast extracts and containing amino acids, soluble peptides and vitamins improved the heat stress tolerance of four tomato landraces grown under Mediterranean conditions.…”

“…The application of biostimulant based on plant and yeast extracts and containing amino acids, soluble peptides and vitamins improved the heat stress tolerance of four tomato landraces grown under Mediterranean conditions. The biostimulant effects were associated to physiological and biochemical mode of actions, for example: (i) stronger antioxidant defense system; and (ii) maximal photochemical efficiency (F v /F m ) in leaves of the four tested tomato landraces [53]. Finally, Trevisan et al [54] demonstrated in a short-term trial that the application of a protein hydrolysates-based biostimulant was able to mitigate the detrimental effects of single (hypoxia, salt or nutrient deficiency) and multiple (nutrient stress + hypoxia or nutrient stress + salinity) stresses of hydroponically grown maize.…”

Salinity Stress Alleviation by Foliar Bio-Stimulant, Proline and Potassium Nutrition Promotes Growth and Yield Quality of Garlic Plant

“…Yeast extract (YE) 3% was prepared from active dry yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) according to the modified method of Francesca et al [16] by dissolving amount of dry yeast in water followed by adding sugar (as a source of C and N) at a ratio of 1:1 and kept 24 hours in a warm place for activation before application on the plants. Yeast extract is rich in beneficial bioconstituents such as amino acids, peptides, phytohormones, vitamins, carbohydrates, trace elements, and other growth factors….etc., hence making it suitable for foliar application.…”

“…The improvement of plants growth in response to the foliar application of active dry yeast may be attributed to its nutritional contents of different nutrients, a relatively larger proportion of amino acids, higher percentage of peptides, phytohormones, higher values of vitamins, carbohydrates, trace elements, and other growth factors (Table 3). Many studies indicated that yeast has stimulatory effects on cell division, elongation, enlargement, chlorophyll formation, protein and nucleic acid synthesis [16] [25]. It was found that the simulative effect of yeast extract treatment can recover the reduction occurred in vegetative growth of leucaena plants which exposed to salinity stress [26].…”

Eco-Physiological Screening of Different Tomato Genotypes in Response to High Temperatures: A Combined Field-to-Laboratory Approach

“…Our findings support the idea that chlorophyll fluorescence parameters (i.e., Φ PSII or NPQ) and some leaf functional traits may be used as a tool to detect high temperatures-tolerant tomato cultivars.Plants 2020, 9, 508 2 of 16 and quality [5,6]. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), being an excellent source of health-promoting compounds, is one of the most important crops cultivated worldwide and its heat sensitivity varies among different genotypes [4,7,8]. Generally, the optimal temperature range for photosynthesis is considered to be between 25 • C and 30 • C [6].…”