Yield and Nutritional Quality of Vesuvian Piennolo Tomato PDO as Affected by Farming System and Biostimulant Application

Abstract

Scientific investigations are being increasingly devoted to biostimulant effects on vegetable yield and quality, with the perspective of sustainable crop management. Two farming systems (conventional or organic) in factorial combination with two biostimulant treatments (tropical plant extract (PE); legume-derived protein hydrolysate (PH)) plus a non-treated control were compared in terms of tomato fruit yield, yield components, mineral composition, functional and nutritional indicators. PE- and PH-based biostimulants resulted in higher plant biomass, PH even in higher leaf area index, compared to non-treated control. Marketable yield was not significantly affected by farming system. PH and PE gave higher yield than non-treated control. PH treatment led to higher fruit number than the control, whereas PE incurred significant increase in yield only under organic farming. The mean fruit weight attained the highest value upon PE application under conventional management. Colour component a* (redness) was higher with the conventional system compared to the organic one, whereas an opposite trend was shown by the organic acids malate, oxalate and isocitrate. Irrespective of the farming system, the soluble solids, fruit brightness (L*) and redness as well as the target organic acids malate, oxalate, citrate and isocitrate were significantly higher than untreated plants by 10.1%, 16.1%, 19.8%, 18.9%, 12.1%, 13.5% and 26.8%, respectively, with no significant differences between the PH- and PE-based biostimulants. Higher lipophilic activity and total ascorbic acid concentration but lower lycopene were recorded under organic management. PE and PH application resulted in higher total phenol and ascorbic acid as well as in lycopene content, and lipophilic antioxidant activity than the non-treated control. Biostimulants proved to be an effective sustainable tool for enhancing tomato fruit yield and functional quality both under conventional and organic vegetable systems.

Effect of Vegetal- and Seaweed Extract-Based Biostimulants on Agronomical and Leaf Quality Traits of Plastic Tunnel-Grown Baby Lettuce under Four Regimes of Nitrogen Fertilization

“…This beneficial effect of vegetal and seaweed extract-based biostimulants on carotenoids and especially chlorophyll content has been recorded also in corn, jute and eggplant [21,22,48,49]. The increase in chlorophyll a and total content in both LDPH and TPE (characterized by the high percentage of free amino acids (75% and 54%, respectively [23,24]) could be attributed to the higher content of primary amino acids in the vegetal-based treated plants as amino acids (e.g., alanine, aspartate, asparagines and glutamate) which help to boost chlorophyll content, and consequently, increase photosynthetic activity as well as the quantum yield of O 2 evolution [22].…”

“…The detailed aminogram was reported by Paul et al [33,34]. The TPE biostimulant obtained by fermentation of tropical plants contained 54% of free amino acids and peptide, 17% carbohydrate, 23% mineral nutrients, 6% vitamins and 0.22% phytohormones as reported in detail by Caruso et al [23,24]. Baby lettuce leaf plants were sprayed with a biostimulant solution containing 3 mL•L −1 of SwE and LDPH and 2•mL L −1 for TPE-based biostimulant, or with water (non-treated control), five times during the growing season at 7-day intervals, starting three weeks after sowing.…”

“…Recent studies carried out on vegetable crops including leafy greens have demonstrated that foliar and/or root applications of plant or seaweed-based biostimulants elicit several physiological and molecular processes, thus resulting in improvements in growth, productivity, nutritional quality and nutrient use efficiency (NUE) and tolerance to abiotic stressors such as drought, soil and water salinity, nutrient deprivation and extreme temperatures [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. The beneficial effects of vegetal-and seaweed-based biostimulants have been attributed to direct and indirect stimulation mechanisms [9].…”

Changes in Biochemistry and Yield in Response to Biostimulants Applied in Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)

“…Agricultural production seeks technological solutions to improve the quality of yields. Therefore, biostimulants are increasingly popular as preparations that favorably impact the growth, development, and yield of plants [1,2], and they are safe for humans and environmentally friendly at the same time. Du Jardin [3] defines biostimulants as "any substance or microorganism applied to plants with the aim of enhancing nutrition efficiency, abiotic stress tolerance, and/or crop quality traits, regardless of its nutrient content".…”

Changes in Assimilation Area and Chlorophyll Content of Very Early Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) Cultivars as Influenced by Biostimulants

“…A higher SPAD does not always guarantee a higher potato yield [28][29][30][31]. Plant-based biostimulants increased SPAD index and marketable yield of tomato and rocket [32][33][34].…”