Natural biostimulants from agricultural residues

At present, rapid population growth brings with it an intrinsic high demand for crop production. Due to this overproduction of crops, the properties of the land are weakened and therefore the quality of the crops grown on it worsens. For this reason, in today’s post, we are talking about the natural substances that can radically change this situation: biostimulants.
In today’s blog we will delve into this concept and tell you how to transform this waste into biostimulants.

What are biostimulants?

Biostimulants are defined as those substances, from biomolecules to even microorganisms, whose objective is to enhance and favor the natural vital functions of plants. Among these functions is the revitalization that biostimulants offer to crops when they are subjected to unfavorable environmental conditions, such as, for example, abiotic stress, light or moisture shortages, sudden changes in temperature, etc., enhancing absorption and nutrient assimilation.

Advantages of using biostimulants

As we have indicated, biostimulants are natural crop enhancers. This fact implicitly indicates the great advantage that this type of substance offers us: the decrease in the massive use of fertilizers, replacing them with biostimulants.
Conventional agriculture achieves higher yields thanks to the use of soluble mineral fertilizers. However, the application of this type of chemical compounds damages the ecosystem, since they can lead to:

• Eutrophication
• Water contamination
• soil degradation
  Air pollution
• Ecosystem degradation
• biological imbalances
• Biodiversity reduction

Among the advantages offered by biostimulants, we can highlight:

• Increased biological efficiency, that is, production of higher quality crops in terms of nutrients and yield.
• Prevention of plant stress, allowing more efficient growth.
• Facilitate the assimilation and use of nutrients.
• Increases the efficiency in the plant’s water consumption.
• Improves soil fertility by facilitating the development of beneficial microorganisms for the soil.

Types of biostimulants

As we have mentioned, these substances comprise a wide range of compounds. Therefore, to understand the utilities and benefits they offer, we can classify them as follows:

• Phytohormones. They are plant-derived hormones that act as bioregulatory elements in various processes related to plant growth.
• Humic and fulvic acids. They make up the soil as a result of the natural decomposition of organic matter and their main function is to enhance the absorption of nutrients, thus improving the fertility of plants.
• Algae and plant extracts. These are biomolecules, generally of organic origin, that are extracted from plants or algae and directly influence crop growth. They can be applied to both the roots and the leaves of the crop, at different stages of plant development.
• Chitosans. It is a biopolymer that stands out for having antifungal, antimicrobial, antiviral and growth-stimulating properties.
• Beneficial mushrooms. They are microorganisms that strengthen and favor the roots of plants, increasing the performance of their nutritional efficiency.
• Amino acids and peptide mixtures. They are molecules whose main functions stand out for promoting plant growth and mitigating the effects of stress.
• Nitrogenous molecules. Among others, tricontanol and betaines stand out, which influence the growth of leaves and the stages of flowering.

Projects with biostimulants

In recent years, the materials team has actively participated in biostimulant development and application projects.

e–Newtrients

One of them, belonging to the European VIDA call, whose objective was to obtain bioactive extracts from brown algae and spirulina, among others, which will act as biostimulants when applied to plants. For this, a research work was carried out in the first place where different biostimulant extraction techniques were optimized. In this optimization, the influence of experimental parameters such as:

• pH
• Temperature
• Agitation
• Extraction time

Each extract was characterized from the point of view of chemical composition and in terms of extraction efficiency. After selecting those that offered the highest yield, tests were carried out on plants, more specifically on peppers, with the aim of evaluating the real applicability of the biostimulants obtained in the laboratory.
In addition, the effect of the biostimulants obtained in the ATRIA laboratory was compared with commercial biostimulants.
Finally, the effect of biostimulants on plant development was evaluated, in relation to height growth, stem thickness, number of flowers, total biomass and root biomass of the plant.As a conclusion of the project, we obtained very positive results with one of the extracts obtained in the laboratory. Among others, we observed that the plant without biostimulant grew in height, at the end of the study time, by 25% with respect to the initial state, while with the extract obtained in the ATRIA laboratory a growth of 60% was obtained. It is also noteworthy that the number of leaves of the plant without reference reached the value of 25 leaves while the plant with biostimulant reached a value of 150 leaves, at the end of the study.

Extraction of pectin and limonene

Another of the most interesting projects in which ATRIA has participated in relation to obtaining biostimulants was in obtaining bioactive molecules from agri-food waste. Specifically, ATRIA designed the methodology for extracting limonene and pectin from orange pulp. Thanks to the positive result of the project, an agri-food waste was revalued, obtaining by-products of great commercial interest.

If you want to give added value to any of your waste, contact us and we will study the case. Contact us!