λ-Carrageenan promotes plant growth in banana via enhancement of cellular metabolism, nutrient uptake, and cellular homeostasis

Abstract

Banana (Musa acuminata) is an important fruit crop and source of income for various countries, including Malaysia. To date, current agrochemical practice has become a disputable issue due to its detrimental effect on the environment. λ-carrageenan, a natural polysaccharide extracted from edible red seaweed, has been claimed to be a potential plant growth stimulator. Hence, the present study investigates the effects of λ-carrageenan on plant growth using Musa acuminata cv. Berangan (AAA). Vegetative growth such as plant height, root length, pseudostem diameter, and fresh weight was improved significantly in λ-carrageenan-treated banana plants at an optimum concentration of 750 ppm. Enhancement of root structure was also observed in optimum λ-carrageenan treatment, facilitating nutrients uptake in banana plants. Further biochemical assays and gene expression analysis revealed that the increment in growth performance was consistent with the increase of chlorophyll content, protein content, and phenolic content, suggesting that λ-carrageenan increases photosynthesis rate, protein biosynthesis, and secondary metabolites biosynthesis which eventually stimulate growth. Besides, λ-carrageenan at optimum concentration also increased catalase and peroxidase activities, which led to a significant reduction in hydrogen peroxide and malondialdehyde, maintaining cellular homeostasis in banana plants. Altogether, λ-carrageenan at optimum concentration improves the growth of banana plants via inducing metabolic processes, enhancing nutrient uptake, and regulation of cell homeostasis. Further investigations are needed to evaluate the effectiveness of λ-carrageenan on banana plants under field conditions.

Seaweed Polysaccharides as Potential Biostimulants in Turnip Greens Production

“…FTIR analysis is relevant in order to understand how the polysaccharide-based solutions affected the turnip greens at a metabolic and molecular level [57]. If we compare the FTIR-ATR similarity rate between the samples treated with polysaccharide solutions and the negative or positive controls, it corroborates all the previous results (biochemical characterization) with numbers.…”

Enhancing Growth and Nutrient Uptake in Bouffegous Date Palm Variety With Seaweed Extracts and AMF/PGPR Combination in the Field.

“…These ndings con rm those obtained in other studies treating other species with algae extracts(Banjare et al, 2022;Mutale-Joan et al, 2020;Rathore et al, 2009). Studies have indicated that the improved nutrient uptake by plants from seaweed extracts is attributed to the upregulation of genes involved in nutrient absorption(Billard et al, 2014), as well as an increase in chlorophyll, protein, and phenolic content due to the presence of microelements and plant growth regulators such as cytokinin(Thye et al, 2022;Zodape, 2001).…”

Seaweed Polysaccharides as a Potential Biostimulant in Turnip Greens Production

“…Lack of nutrients in a soil can result in leaf chlorosis, reduced plant development, and even plant death. However, the excess of nutrients in the soil can also have harmful effects on plants, affecting the plant nutrient uptake, resulting in oxidative stress, cell damage, and growth inhibition [60]. Plants require 16 essential elements to survive, such as carbon (C), hydrogen (H), oxygen (O), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sulfur (S); and trace elements, such as iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), boron (B), molybdenum (Mo), and chlorine (Cl).…”