Effect of natural biostimulants on greenhouse tomato production
Keywords:
natural biostimulants, tomato, greenhouse, yield, sustainable agriculture, plant growth.Abstract
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) production under greenhouse conditions is an agricultural activity of considerable importance due to the growing demand for fruits with high commercial and nutritional quality. However, the intensification of production systems has increased the use of fertilisers and other agricultural inputs, creating the need to develop sustainable alternatives capable of maintaining or increasing productivity. In this context, natural biostimulants represent an innovative strategy to promote plant growth, improve nutrient uptake, and strengthen plant responses to adverse conditions. The objective of this article was to analyse, through a literature review, the available evidence on the effects of natural biostimulants on the growth, development, yield, and quality of tomatoes cultivated under greenhouse conditions. The review included 20 academic and scientific documents related to plant extracts, organic biostimulants, plant growth-promoting bacteria, chitosan, amino acids, vermicompost, and combined formulations. The results show that biostimulants can promote biomass production, root development, vegetative growth, nutrient uptake, yield, and certain fruit quality characteristics. However, the magnitude of the responses varies according to the type of biostimulant, concentration, frequency and method of application, crop characteristics, and environmental conditions. It is concluded that natural biostimulants offer significant potential to strengthen the sustainability of greenhouse tomato production, although their use requires specific protocols, long-term evaluations, and a better understanding of the interactions between products, plants, microorganisms, and production conditions.
Downloads
References
Backer, R., Rokem, J. S., Ilangumaran, G., Lamont, J., Praslickova, D., Ricci, E., Subramanian, S., & Smith, D. L. (2018). Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria: Context, mechanisms of action, and roadmap to commercialization of biostimulants for sustainable agriculture. Frontiers in Plant Science, 9, 1473. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2018.01473
Bulgari, R., Franzoni, G., & Ferrante, A. (2019). Biostimulants application in horticultural crops under abiotic stress conditions. Agronomy, 9(6), 306. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy9060306
Canellas, L. P., Olivares, F. L., Aguiar, N. O., Jones, D. L., Nebbioso, A., Mazzei, P., & Piccolo, A. (2015). Humic and fulvic acids as biostimulants in horticulture. Scientia Horticulturae, 196, 15–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2015.09.013
Colla, G., & Rouphael, Y. (2015). Biostimulants in horticulture. Scientia Horticulturae, 196, 1–2. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2015.10.044
Colla, G., Hoagland, L., Ruzzi, M., Cardarelli, M., Bonini, P., Canaguier, R., & Rouphael, Y. (2017). Biostimulant action of protein hydrolysates: Unraveling their effects on plant physiology and microbiome. Frontiers in Plant Science, 8, 2202. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2017.02202
du Jardin, P. (2015). Plant biostimulants: Definition, concept, main categories and regulation. Scientia Horticulturae, 196, 3–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2015.09.021
European Commission. (2019). Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down rules on the making available on the market of EU fertilising products. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2019/1009/oj
Halpern, M., Bar-Tal, A., Ofek, M., Minz, D., Muller, T., & Yermiyahu, U. (2015). The use of biostimulants for enhancing nutrient uptake. Advances in Agronomy, 130, 141–174. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.agron.2014.10.001
Malerba, M., & Cerana, R. (2016). Chitosan effects on plant systems. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 17(7), 996. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms17070996
Page, M. J., McKenzie, J. E., Bossuyt, P. M., Boutron, I., Hoffmann, T. C., Mulrow, C. D., Shamseer, L., Tetzlaff, J. M., Akl, E. A., Brennan, S. E., Chou, R., Glanville, J., Grimshaw, J. M., Hróbjartsson, A., Lalu, M. M., Li, T., Loder, E. W., Mayo-Wilson, E., McDonald, S., ... Moher, D. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ, 372, n71. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n71
Parađiković, N., Teklić, T., Zeljković, S., Lisjak, M., & Špoljarević, M. (2019). Biostimulants research in some horticultural plant species—A review. Food and Energy Security, 8(2), e00162. https://doi.org/10.1002/fes3.162
Pichyangkura, R., & Chadchawan, S. (2015). Biostimulant activity of chitosan in horticulture. Scientia Horticulturae, 196, 49–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2015.09.031
Rouphael, Y., & Colla, G. (2020). Biostimulants in agriculture. Frontiers in Plant Science, 11, 40. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2020.00040
Rouphael, Y., Cardarelli, M., Bonini, P., & Colla, G. (2017). Synergistic action of a microbial-based biostimulant and a plant-derived protein hydrolysate enhances lettuce tolerance to alkalinity and salinity. Frontiers in Plant Science, 8, 131. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2017.00131
Rouphael, Y., Giordano, M., Cardarelli, M., Cozzolino, E., Mori, M., Kyriacou, M. C., Bonini, P., & Colla, G. (2018). Plant- and seaweed-based extracts increase yield but differentially modulate nutritional quality of greenhouse spinach through biostimulant action. Agronomy, 8(7), 126. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy8070126
Rouphael, Y., Spíchal, L., Panzarová, K., Casa, R., & Colla, G. (2018). High-throughput plant phenotyping for developing novel biostimulants: From lab to field or from field to lab? Frontiers in Plant Science, 9, 1197. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2018.01197
Snyder, H. (2019). Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines. Journal of Business Research, 104, 333–339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.07.039
Van Oosten, M. J., Pepe, O., De Pascale, S., Silletti, S., & Maggio, A. (2017). The role of biostimulants and bioeffectors as alleviators of abiotic stress in crop plants. Chemical and Biological Technologies in Agriculture, 4, 5. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40538-017-0089-5
Yakhin, O. I., Lubyanov, A. A., Yakhin, I. A., & Brown, P. H. (2017). Biostimulants in plant science: A global perspective. Frontiers in Plant Science, 7, 2049. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2016.02049
Zulfiqar, F., Casadesús, A., Brockman, H., & Munné-Bosch, S. (2020). An overview of plant-based natural biostimulants for sustainable horticulture with a particular focus on moringa leaf extracts. Plant Science, 295, 110194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plantsci.2019.110194
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Alfonso Llanderal Quiroz
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
