Effects of plant-based biostimulants,used alone or in combination, on yield and quality of rocket plants

TheclimaticconditionsoverthelastfewdecadeswereestimatedbytheIntergovernmentalPanelonClimateChange(IPCC)tobethewarmestofanypreviousdecade.Climatechangereferstoanomalous,intense,andcatastrophicclimaticeventsdirectlylinkedtotheincreaseintemperatureonEarth.Thesearehurricanes,floods,meltingglaciers,etc.Inthiscontext,agricultureissubjecttostrongabioticstressesthatcompromisefoodsafety.Itisthereforenecessarytoresorttoagriculturalpracticesthatreducetheimpactofagricultureontheenvironment,andguaranteecropsproduction.Animportantanswertothisproblemcomesfromtheuseofbiostimulantsinagriculture.Thesearemicroorganismsandmoleculesofnaturaloriginabletoincreasefertilizerseffectiveness,bylimitingtheiruse.Inthisstudy,twodifferentplant-basedbiostimulantswereusedaloneandincombinationtotesttheireffectivenessonproduction,mineralcontent,andsomequalityparametersofgreenhouse-grownrocketplants.Biostimulanttreatmentsshowedanaverageincreaseof48.1%ofthetotalyieldand37.2%ofdrybiomassoftheplants,comparedtocontrolplants,withoutsignificantdifferencesamongtreatments.Anincreaseinchlorophyll,calcium,magnesium,andpotassiumwasdetectedinthepresenceofthetwobiostimulants,too.VitaminCcontentincreased,ascomparedtothecontrolwhenthetwobiostimulantswerecombined.Thisstudyfocusedonbiostimulantsaseco-sustainableproductsabletoincreasetheyieldandqualityofsuchcropsasrocket