Valorization of Posidonia oceanica biomass: Role on germination of cucumber and tomato seeds

Abstract

Biostimulants are organic compounds from plant sources such as botanical extracts and bioactive substances that promote plant growth, enhance photosynthesis and increase crop quality. The accumulation of detached Posidonia oceanica leaves on coasts of the Mediterranean Sea results in economic problems, due to the rejection of the tourists who frequent the beaches in the summer months. However, it is a plant with high content of secondary metabolites that can be used in sustainable agriculture. In this study we investigated the physicochemical characterization of Posidonia oceanica extracts with three different solutions and their application in tomato and cucumber seeds germination. The results showed that the aqueous extract of Posidonia oceanica had a high concentration of macro and micronutrients, as well as secondary metabolites with bioactive activity. The aqueous extract had a beneficial effect on both leaf and root growth on tomato seeds, specifically, an increase of 76% for the relative root growth and 73% for the germination index was obtained with respect to the control using the sample with the intermediate dilution (POe0.5). In addition, the extracts did not show toxicity to either germination or growth of the tomato plant. As for cucumber seed germination, the improvement was less significant and did result in a phytotoxic effect on both germination and plant growth. The most diluted extract had better results on seed germination. Therefore, the application of aqueous extracts of Posidonia oceanica were suitable to be appropriate for tomato germination and in turn contribute to eliminate the lots of Posidonia oceanica remains recovered in summer months in Mediterranean beaches.