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Seaweed extract of Ascophyllum nodosum applied in tomato crop as a biostimulant for improving growth, yield and soil fertility in subtropical condition

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Abstract

Seaweed extracts can be used in agriculture as biostimulants which present many advantages in several crops. Ascophyllum nodosum extract (ANE) is a source of phytohormones, polysaccharides and minerals which provide benefits to soil–plant system. The objective was to analyze the biostimulant response of ANE application in tomato crop, regarding morphological and yield aspects, and understand the nutrients dynamics in the soil. The experiment was carried out in a completely randomized design during 2020–2021 in protected environment in southern of Brazil. Three treatments were studied, besides control, ANE (0.2%) was applied to the soil (drench), and to the leaves (spray). in five times during tomato crop. ANE applications improved plant growth (plant height, stem diameter, fresh and dry mass of leaf, stem and root, leaf number, leaf area, root length and chlorophyll content), yield components (fruit quantity, fruit weight and size, bunches number and size and productivity), as well as soil fertility (dynamics of macronutrients and organic carbon). Therefore, ANE (0.2%) application in tomato crop promotes plant growth and yield components increments, being a sustainable input, which contribute to advances in agriculture. Soil applications of ANE were more effective when compared to foliar applications. However, both methods could improve soil chemical properties after cultivation.

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Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) by scholarship and Acadian Seaplants by the commercial seaweed extract.

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biosystems Engineering, São Paulo University/ESALQ, Padua Dias Avenue, 11, Piracicaba, Sao Paulo, C.P. 13418-900, Brazil

    Vinícius Villa e Vila & Patricia Angélica Alves Marques

  2. Department of Agronomy, Maringa State University/UEM, Colombo Avenue, 5790, Maringa, Parana, C.P. 87020-900, Brazil

    Roberto Rezende, Gustavo Soares Wenneck, Raiana Crepaldi de Faria Nocchi, Daniele de Souza Terassi, André Felipe Barion Alves Andrean & Paula Toshimi Matumoto-Pintro

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  1. Vinícius Villa e Vila
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  2. Roberto Rezende
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  3. Patricia Angélica Alves Marques
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  8. Paula Toshimi Matumoto-Pintro
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Contributions

Vinícius Villa e Vila: Investigation, Methodology, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing, Project administration, Fieldwork, Formal analysis, Conceptualization. Roberto Rezende: Supervision, Project administration, Resources. Patricia Angélica Alves Marques: Investigation, Writing—review & editing. Gustavo Soares Wenneck: Investigation, Methodology, Fieldwork, Formal analysis. Raiana Crepaldi de Faria Nocchi: Investigation, Fieldwork, Formal analysis. Daniele de Souza Terassi: Fieldwork, Formal analysis, Conceptualization. André Felipe Barion Alves Andrean: Methodology, Fieldwork, Conceptualization. Paula Toshimi Matumoto-Pintro: Supervision, Writing—review & editing, Project administration, Conceptualization, Resources.

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Correspondence to Vinícius Villa e Vila.

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Villa e Vila, V., Rezende, R., Marques, P.A.A. et al. Seaweed extract of Ascophyllum nodosum applied in tomato crop as a biostimulant for improving growth, yield and soil fertility in subtropical condition. J Appl Phycol 35, 2531–2541 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-023-03060-6

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