Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Jul 5;8(7):208.
doi: 10.3390/plants8070208.

Protein Hydrolysate or Plant Extract-based Biostimulants Enhanced Yield and Quality Performances of Greenhouse Perennial Wall Rocket Grown in Different Seasons

Gianluca Caruso  1 , Stefania De Pascale  2 , Eugenio Cozzolino  3 , Maria Giordano  2 , Christophe El-Nakhel  2 , Antonio Cuciniello  3 , Vincenzo Cenvinzo  2 , Giuseppe Colla  4 , Youssef Rouphael  2
Affiliations

Protein Hydrolysate or Plant Extract-based Biostimulants Enhanced Yield and Quality Performances of Greenhouse Perennial Wall Rocket Grown in Different Seasons

Gianluca Caruso et al. Plants (Basel). .

Abstract

Research has been increasingly focusing on the environmentally friendly biostimulation of vegetable crop performances under sustainable farming management. An experiment was carried out in southern Italy on Diplotaxis tenuifolia to assess the effects of two plant biostimulants (Legume-derived protein hydrolysate, Trainer®; Tropical plant extract, Auxym®) and a non-treated control, in factorial combination with three crop cycles (autumn-winter; winter; and winter-spring) on leaf yield, photosynthetic and colour status, quality, elemental composition, antioxidant content and activity. Both biostimulants prevalently contain amino acids and soluble peptides, showing the major effects on crop performances, though Auxym also has a small percentage of phytohormones and vitamins. The biostimulants enhanced plant growth and the productivity of perennial wall rocket. The winter-spring cycle led to higher leaf yield than the winter one. The two plant biostimulants enhanced leaf dry matter, oxalic and citric acids, Ca and P concentrations, phenols and ascorbic acid content as well as antioxidant activity, but did not increase nitrate content. A presumed mechanism involved in the enhancement of crop production could be attributed to the improvement of mineral nutrient availability and uptake. The winter-spring cycle elicited higher antioxidant content and activity than winter crops. Our current study shows that both the legume-derived protein hydrolysate and tropical plant extract represent an effective tool for boosting the yield, nutritional and functional quality of vegetable produce in the view of sustainable crop systems.

Keywords: Diplotaxis tenuifolia (L.) DC.; functional and nutritional quality; natural biostimulants; nitrate; production; sustainable horticulture.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Main components (as percentage of the total) of tropical plant extract enriched with micronutrients (A) and vegetal-derived protein hydrolysate (B) tested in the present trial.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Trend of air temperature inside the greenhouse in Portici (Naples, southern Italy) as an average of 2016–2017 and 2017–2018.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Brusco M.L. Rucola della Piana del Sele a un passo dall’IGP. FreshPlaza; Tholen, The Netherlands: 2018. [(accessed on 11 June 2019)]. Available online: www.freshplaza.it/article/99765/Rucola-della-Piana-del-Sele-a-un-passo-d....
    1. Caruso G., Parrella G., Giorgini M., Nicoletti R. Crop systems, quality and protection of Diplotaxis tenuifolia. Agriculture. 2018;8:55. doi: 10.3390/agriculture8040055. - DOI
    1. Caruso G., Stoleru V., De Pascale S., Cozzolino E., Pannico A., Giordano M., Teliban G., Cuciniello A., Rouphael Y. Production, leaf quality and antioxidants of perennial wall rocket as affected by crop cycle and mulching type. Agronomy. 2019;9:194. doi: 10.3390/agronomy9040194. - DOI
    1. Duhamel M., Vandenkoornhuyse P. Sustainable agriculture: Possible trajectories from mutualistic symbiosis and plant neodomestication. Trends Plant Sci. 2013;18:597–600. doi: 10.1016/j.tplants.2013.08.010. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Du Jardin P. Plant biostimulants: Definition; concept; main categories and regulation. Sci. Hortic. 2015;196:3–14. doi: 10.1016/j.scienta.2015.09.021. - DOI

LinkOut - more resources