Biostimulant Effects of an Aqueous Extract of Duckweed ( Lemna minor L.) on Physiological and Biochemical Traits in the Olive Tree

Luca Regni, Daniele Del Buono, Begoña Miras-Moreno, Biancamaria Senizza, Luigi Lucini, Marco Trevisan, Diletta Morelli Venturi, Ferdinando Costantino and Primo Proietti
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Luca Regni: Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Ambientali, University of Perugia, Borgo XX Giugno, 06121 Perugia, Italy
Daniele Del Buono: Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Ambientali, University of Perugia, Borgo XX Giugno, 06121 Perugia, Italy
Begoña Miras-Moreno: Department for Sustainable Food Process, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Via Emilia Parmense 84, 29122 Piacenza, Italy
Biancamaria Senizza: Department for Sustainable Food Process, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Via Emilia Parmense 84, 29122 Piacenza, Italy
Luigi Lucini: Department for Sustainable Food Process, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Via Emilia Parmense 84, 29122 Piacenza, Italy
Marco Trevisan: Department for Sustainable Food Process, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Via Emilia Parmense 84, 29122 Piacenza, Italy
Diletta Morelli Venturi: Dipartimento di Chimica, Biologia e Biotecnologia, University of Perugia, Via Elce di Sotto 8, 06123 Perugia, Italy
Ferdinando Costantino: Dipartimento di Chimica, Biologia e Biotecnologia, University of Perugia, Via Elce di Sotto 8, 06123 Perugia, Italy
Primo Proietti: Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Ambientali, University of Perugia, Borgo XX Giugno, 06121 Perugia, Italy

Agriculture, 2021, vol. 11, issue 12, 1-14

Abstract: Biostimulants are becoming increasingly popular in agriculture for their ability to induce beneficial effects in crops, paving the way towards the identification of new materials with biostimulant potential. This study evaluated the potential of different concentrations of an aqueous extract (0.25%, 0.50%, and 1.00%, dry weight/water volume, respectively) obtained from duckweed ( Lemna minor L.) to stimulate olive plants. Leaf net photosynthesis (Pn), leaf transpiration rate (E), stomatal conductance (gs), sub-stomatal CO 2 concentration (Ci), chlorophyll content and other plant growth parameters were investigated. As a result, the extract improved Pn, gs, Ci, chlorophyll content and plant biomass production (leaf fresh and dry weight). Furthermore, the duckweed extract generally increased the uptake of nitrogen (N), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn), while it did not influence the content of sodium (Na), manganese (Mn) and copper (Cu). The untargeted metabolomic profiling of the extract revealed the presence of signalling compounds (including phytohormones), phenolics and glutathione. Such broad diversity of bioactives may support the stimulatory potential observed in olive. In summary, this study revealed for the first time that duckweed could be seen as a promising species to obtain extracts with biostimulant properties in olive trees.

Keywords: biostimulant; aquatic species; photosynthesis; plant growth; plant nutrition; bioactive metabolites (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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