
Seaweed extract based products: Functional Crop Nutrition® with Protonic® Quattro
The agricultural sector today faces significant challenges, making it even more important to add new tools and solutions to the primary sector. An effective and environmentally friendly solution is the use of bio activators, such as seaweeds, enriched and combined with different groups of compounds. These bio activators enhance flowering, plant growth, fruit set, crop yield and nutrient use efficiency, while at the same time they can improve resistance to abiotic and biotic stress.
One such group of bio-activators is Agrology’s innovative Seaweed Protonic® product line. The Protonic® line consists of bio activators based on seaweed extracts, enhanced with organic bioactive compounds and/or selected trace elements.
The formulation of Protonic® Quattro, in the series of Protonic® line, is a holistic bio activator containing 50% extracts of Laminaria digitata and Ascophyllum nodosum algae and 20% mixture of L-amino acid hydrolyzed proteins, reinforced with Molybdenum (Mo), Cobalt (Co) and Carboxylic Acids. It is a product designed for use throughout the cultivation period, and ideal for all crop stages of the plant.
Seaweed Extracts – Innovation for Sustainable Agriculture
The beneficial effect of seaweed extracts is well-known and the increase in their use is rapid in modern agriculture. Protonic® Quattro contains two different species of algae, Laminaria digitata and Ascophyllum nodosum, which have been selected due to their great effectiveness, but also because of their synergistic action.
Seaweeds contain high concentrations of carbohydrates, plant hormones (cytokinins, auxins, gibberellins), proteins, and polysaccharides. It is also a rich source of various secondary metabolites, which activate endogenous defense mechanisms against abiotic (temperature, drought) and biotic stress (pests, diseases). Although algae are rich in nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, etc.) the beneficial effects are mainly attributed to the regulatory effects they offer on plant’s metabolism.
The process of producing a seaweed extract is extremely important. The cold extraction treatment of the two seaweeds of Protonic® Quattro applied in Agrology ensures a natural product that keeps all the nutrients of Laminaria digitata and Ascophyllum nodosum intact.
Overall, the combination of the two algae contributes to:
- Resistance against abiotic stress
- transplantation
- salinity
- drought/ heat
- frost
- flooding
- Growth enhancement, yield increase, and quality improvement of the final product.
- increase in phenolic and antioxidant substances
- increased post-harvest life
- Strengthening of the root system and
- increase in the utilization of nutrients.
Amino Acids – Foundations of Plant Performance
The importance of amino acids in plant growth and stress tolerance has become increasingly evident. That is because they are the “raw materials” for the synthesis of the plant’s basic structural proteins. Also, they affect numerous physiological processes due to their participation, as metabolites, in the regulation of multiple physiological and biochemical pathways of the plant organism. Amino acids produced by enzymatic hydrolysis are called L-amino acids, and this form is the only one immediately absorbable by plants.
Protonic® Quattro contains 20% mixture of L-amino acid hydrolyzed plant proteins that are highly absorbable and enhance plant bioactivation.
The foliar application of amino acids allows their immediate absorption and rapid movement in the plant tissues. This is energetically beneficial for the plant. In addition, the supply of amino acids through fertilizing helps to improve the microflora of the soil and thus facilitates the assimilation of nutrients.
The use of amino acids is indicated in critical crop stages in the development of the plant, such as the formation of buds, fruit set, growth and development of the fruit as well as in situations of intense abiotic and biotic stress.
By using amino acids, we can:
- Enhance the plant’s resistance to biotic and abiotic stress.
- Increase fruit set and overall yield.
- Improve the organoleptic characteristics of the fruits.
- Save energy from the plant.
- Improve the development of the root system.
- Enhance chlorophyll synthesis which improves the photosynthetic capacity of the plant.
Carboxylic acids – Plant growth regulators
Organic acids vary greatly in size but also in their ability to form absrobable complexes by plants. Carboxylic acids are the most common type of organic acids. They have at least one carboxyl radical (-COOH) and have an acidic pH.
Plants synthesize low molecular weight carboxylic acids that are important bonding factors. They have strong absorption and rapid translocation inside the plant. This results in more efficient use of the nutrients that they are associated with. In addition, low molecular weight carboxylic acids increase the osmotic pressure of the plant and transport nutrients and sugars to the plant organs in need. In this way, carboxylic acids improve the quality of the final product.
Protonic® Quattro is enriched with low molecular weight carboxylic acids and the results from its use are like those naturally produced by plants.
This is how we achieve:
- Increase in nutrients uptake.
- Promotion of plant growth.
- Yield Increase and improvement in the quality of the products.
Molybdenum – A “key” trace element in nitrogen metabolism
Even as a trace element, molybdenum (Mo) is essential for the growth of plants. The most common symptom of Mo deficiency is chlorosis in the leaves which resembles nitrogen deficiency. Chlorosis is often followed by wilting and necrosis. The symptoms usually appear first in older tissue and then in young leaves, while there are also disorders of fruit set due to the incomplete development of the productive organs.
Mo is involved in many important metabolic processes (e.g., chlorophyll synthesis) of plants, while at the same time, it is a structural element of enzymes closely related to nitrogen metabolism in the plant. More specifically, it enhances its binding, as it is an integral element of the nitrate reductase and nitrogenase enzymes. Nitrate reductase converts nitrate ions to nitrite, which is the first step in the incorporation of nitrogen into proteins. Nitrogenase, the key enzyme of nitrogen fixation, catalyzes the binding of atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia, a form that can be directly absorbed by the plant.
In addition, Mo acts as a cofactor in important enzymes of plant hormone synthesis processes, such as abscisic acid (ABA) and auxins. Finally, the application of Mo improves the availability of phosphorus in the soil as there is a synergistic interaction of the two elements due to the formation of anionic complexes between them.
Cobalt – The beneficial element
Cobalt (Co) is an essential component of vitamin B12 and its derivatives and is also a co-factor in a wide range of enzymes and proteins. It is essential for the growth of nitrogen-fixing bacteria in legumes and plays a vital role in maintaining the cellular homeostasis of plant tissues.
Co Benefits are as follows:
- Strengthening the action of nitrogen-fixing bacteria.
- Slowing down aging, by inhibiting the action of ethylene and contributing to a longer post-harvest life of the products.
- Increased tolerance to drought conditions.
WHY Protonic® Quattro
- It combines extracts of two different seaweeds.
- High contents of seaweed extracts and L-amino acids.
- Cold-processed seaweed extracts.
- Enhanced with Carboxylic Acids and trace elements.
- It promotes phosphorus uptake by plants.
- It strengthens and activates the root system.
- It contributes to nitrogen metabolism.
- It improves the nutritional value and shelf life of the products.
- Compatible with Organic Farming.
It is a product for frequent applications from the beginning of cultivation to harvest. It contributes to effectively establishing crops, improving resistance, and faster recovery from abiotic and biotic stress.
To be used safely | Always read the product label before use | Pay attention to the warning phrases and symbols on the label.