Effect of the biostimulant VIUSIDagro on the morpho-agronomic parameters of pomegranate in Cuba
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
According to FAO, tropical fruit trees account for 60% of the species with underutilized potential in Latin America. In this regard, pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) represents a strategic crop due to its adaptability to adverse conditions and its high nutraceutical value. However, the increase in average temperatures and irregular rainfall have reduced the yields of traditional crops. To mitigate these effects, the use of biostimulants could be an environmentally friendly alternative and help increase yields. In this study the effect of the biostimulant VIUSID agro on morpho-agronomic parameters of pomegranate was evaluated. The experiment was conducted at the Basic Scientific Technological Unit (UCTB) in Alquízar, Cuba, using a completely randomized design with four treatments: three concentrations of VIUSID agro and a control. Each treatment was replicated four times. Growth variables (foliar area), vegetative variables (flower number and fruit set percentage) and quality of fruits (peel mass, seed mass, juice yield and soluble solids) were measured. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA, and mean differences were compared with Tukey’s HSD test. Results showed that lower doses increased significantly peel mass, total seed mass, and juice yield. The higher dose showed intermediate effects, suggesting a non-linear dose-response relationship. No significant differences were observed in leaf area or flower number. These results allowed to conclude that VIUSID agro at 2-3 mL in 5 L improves pomegranate fruit quality and yield, primarily through physical rather than biochemical enhancements. The non-linear response at higher doses warrants further research to optimize application protocols.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Those authors who have publications with this journal accept the following terms of the License Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0):
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material
The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
The journal is not responsible for the opinions and concepts expressed in the works, they are the sole responsibility of the authors. The Editor, with the assistance of the Editorial Committee, reserves the right to suggest or request advisable or necessary modifications. They are accepted to publish original scientific papers, research results of interest that have not been published or sent to another journal for the same purpose.
The mention of trademarks of equipment, instruments or specific materials is for identification purposes, and there is no promotional commitment in relation to them, neither by the authors nor by the publisher.
References
Filho WL, Setti AFF, Azeiteiro UM, Lokupitiya E, Donkor FK, Etim NANA / et al./ An overview of the interactions between food production and climate change. Sci Total Environ. 2022;838(Pt 1):156438. doi: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156438
Khayyat M, Tafazoli E, Eshghi S, Rajaee S. Effect of nitrogen, boron, potassium and zinc sprays on yield and fruit quality of pomegranate. J Plant Nutr. 2012;35(3):358-69. doi: http://doi.org/10.1080/01904167.2012.639921
Al-Karaki GN, Othman Y. Effect of foliar application of amino acid biostimulants on growth, macronutrient, total phenol contents and antioxidant activity of soilless grown lettuce cultivars. S Afr J Bot. 2023;154:225-31. doi: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.sajb.2023.01.034
Kahramanoglu I, Usanmaz S, Alas T. Improving postharvest storage quality of pomegranate fruit with chitosan coating. J Food Sci Technol. 2021;58(5):1809-18. doi: http://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-020-04699-6
Zamljen T, Medic A, Veberic R, Hudina M, Grohar MC, Slatnar A. Influence of hydrolyzed animal protein-based biostimulant on primary, soluble and volatile secondary metabolism of Genovese and Greek-type basil grown under salt stress. Sci Hortic. 2023; 319:112178. doi: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2023.112178
Al-Said FA, Opara UL, Al-Yahyai RA. Physico-chemical properties and antioxidant activity of pomegranate fruit (Punica granatum L.). Food Chem. 2009;117(2):468-71. doi: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2009.04.039
Peña Calzada K, Trocones Boggiano A, Delgado Fernández L, Martínez Alonso Y, Martín Conesa Y, Calero Hurtado A, et al. Growth promoter in Acacia mangium Willd improves quality and reduces permanence in nursery. Rev Mex Cienc Forest. 2024; 15(86):52-76. doi: http://doi.org/10.29298/rmcf.v15i86.1468
Calvo, P., Rodríguez, M., & Sánchez, E. Dose-response effects of biostimulants in horticultural crops. Journal of Plant Growth Regulation. 2021. 40(3), 1234-1248. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-020-10194-1
Catalysis. VIUSID agro ®, promotor del crecimiento. 2020. Available from: https://catalysisagro.es/.
Mejía, K. D. Control de Phytophthora cinnamoni en el cultivo de arándano (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) cv. Biloxi con diferentes aislamientos de Trichoderma. 2018. Available from: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12996/3669http://www.revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/agromeso. Última visita en: 19-4-2025
Peña-Calzada K, Olivera Viciedo D, Habermann E, Calero Hurtado A, Lupino Gratão P, De Mello Prado R, et al. Exogenous application of amino acids mitigates the deleterious effects of salt stress on soybean plants. Agronomy. 2022; 12(9):2014. doi: http://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12092014
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The state of food and agriculture: Leveraging automation for sustainable agriculture (Internet). 2023 (cited 2024 May 8). Available from: http://www.fao.org.
Kausar A, Zahra N, Tahir H, Hafeez MB, Abbas W, Raza A. Modulation of growth and biochemical responses in spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) through foliar application of some amino acids under drought conditions. S Afr J Bot. 2023;158:243-53. doi: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.sajb.2023.05.018
Li G, Wei J, Li C, Fu K, Li C, Li C, et al. Amino acid metabolism response to post-anthesis drought stress during critical periods of elite wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) endosperm development. Environ Exp Bot. 2024; 218:105577. doi: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.envexpbot.2023.105577
Terry EA, Ruiz JP, Tejeda TP, Carrillo YS. Effect of different nutritional management on yield and quality of tomato fruits. Agron. Agron. Mesoam. 29(2):389-401. Mayo-agosto, 2018. doi:10.15517/ma.v29i2.28889. Available from: http://www.revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/agromeso
Sadak MS, Sekara A, Al-Ashkar I, Habib-ur-Rahman M, Skalicky M, Brestic M, et al. Exogenous aspartic acid alleviates salt stress-induced decline in growth by enhancing antioxidants and compatible solutes while reducing reactive oxygen species in wheat. Front Plant Sci. 2022; 13:987641. doi: http://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.987641
Trovato M, Funck D, Forlani G, Okumoto S, Amir R. Editorial: Amino acids in plants: regulation and functions in development and stress defense. Front Plant Sci. 2021; 12:772810. doi: http://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2021.772810
Rouphael, Y., Spíchal, L., Panzarová, K., Casa, R., & Colla, G. High-throughput plant phenotyping for developing novel biostimulants. Frontiers in Plant Science, 2023. 14, 1129872. Available from: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2023.1129872
Majeed A, Muhammad Z. Salinity: A major agricultural problem-causes, impacts on crop productivity and management strategies. In: Plant abiotic stress tolerance: agronomic, molecular and biotechnological approaches. Springer International Publishing; 2019. p. 83-99. doi: http://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-06118-0_3
Hernández, A., J. M. Pérez, D. Bosch y N. Castro. Nueva versión de clasificación genética de los suelos de Cuba. Ediciones INCA. 2015. Mayabeque, Cuba. ISBN: 978-959-7023-77‑7. Available from: https://ediciones.inca.edu.cu/
Rouphael Y, Colla G. Biostimulants in agriculture. Front Plant Sci. 2020; 11:40. doi: http://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2020.00040
Schneider CA, Rasband WS, Eliceiri KW. NIH Image to ImageJ: 25 years of image analysis. Nat Methods. 2012; 9(7):671-5. doi: http://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth.2089
Peña, Kolima, Calero-Hurtado, A., Olivera-Olivera, D., Rodríguez, J. C., Fernandes, T., & Ajila, G. Agroproductive response of Zea mayz L. with the foliar application of VIUSID agro®. Revista de La Facultad de Agronomía de La Universidad Del Zulia, 2021 38(3), 573-584. Available from: https://doi.org/10.47280/RevFacAgron(LUZ).v38.n3.06
Jiang, J., Wang, Z., Kong, X., Chen, Y., & Li, J. Exogenous tryptophan application improves cadmium tolerance and inhibits cadmium upward transport in broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica). Frontiers in Plant Science. 13-7-2022, 1-13. Available from: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.969675
Peña Calzada K, Calero Hurtado A, Peistrup V, Mühlmann I, Rodríguez Miranda D, Rodríguez Coca LI, et al. Respuestas fisiológicas y productivas de plantas de remolacha tratadas con una solución de aminoácidos. Temas Agrar. 2024; 29(1):113-25. doi: http://doi.org/10.21897/pkxmyw03
Romero LM, Estrada NM, Gálvez JR, Concepción OM, Chávez E, Kukurtcu B. Effect of Viusid Agro® on the Growth of Banana (Musa Spp.) Seedlings Under Nursery Conditions. Int J Agric Res Environ Sci. 2023;4(2):0-4. doi: http://doi.org/10.51626/ijares.2023.04.00036
Pordeus AV, Moraes L de A, Medeiros D de O, Benitez LC. Growth response of hydroponic Lactuca sativa L. to application of fertilizer organic VIUSID Agro®. J Agric Sci. 2020; 12(11):268. doi: http://doi.org/10.5539/jas.v12n11p268
Yakhin OI, Lubyanov AA, Yakhin IA, Brown PH. Biostimulants in plant science: a global perspective. Front Plant Sci. 2017; 7:2049. doi: http://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2016.02049
Zhang C, Zhang J, Liu W, Ji J, Zhang K, Li H, et al. Mechanisms of branched chain amino acids promoting growth and lipid accumulation in Camelina sativa seedlings under drought and salt stress. Sustain Energy Technol Assess. 2025; 75:104201. doi: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.seta.2025.104201
González YA, Pérez Díaz Y, Calero Hurtado A. Prácticas agrícolas sostenibles que benefician la productividad del maní. In: Valdivia YC, Peña Calzada K, editores. Soberanía alimentaria y desarrollo agropecuario y forestal sostenible II. 2nd ed. 2024. p. 97-114. Available from: https://dspace.uniss.edu.cu/handle/123456789/9067
Júnio E, Caetano M, Costa CC, Batista JD, Armando E, Arielly C, et al. Aplicação de bioestimulante e número de frutos sobre a alocação de fitomassa em meloeiro. Rev Bras Gest Ambient. 2022;16(1):27-36. doi: http://doi.org/10.18378/rbga.v16i1.9488
Priyanka B, Ramesh T, Rathika S, Balasubramaniam P. Foliar application of fish amino acid and egg amino acid to improve the physiological parameters of rice. Int J Curr Microbiol Appl Sci. 2019; 8(2):3005-9. doi: http://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2019.802.351
Parra A, et al. Biostimulants for plant growth and mitigation of abiotic stresses: a metabolomics perspective. Metabolites. 2020; 10(12):505. doi: http://doi.org/10.3390/metabo10120505
Pérez Díaz Y, Calero Hurtado A, Peña Calzada K, Gutiérrez Díaz JL, Rodríguez González V. Densidades de plantas y aplicación foliar de aminoácidos incrementan el rendimiento del ajonjolí. Temas Agrar. 2024; 29(1):100-12. doi: http://doi.org/10.21897/w2sd1542
Pleguezuelo CRR, Zuazo VHD, García-Tejero I, Fernández JLM. Biostimulants in sustainable pomegranate production. Sci Hortic. 2021; 283:110067. doi: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2021.110067
Rodríguez, M. A., Cabrera, L. R., & Madrigal, Y. E. Respuesta productiva del frijol ante la aplicación de un promotor del crecimiento activado molecularmente. In Y. C. Valdivia & P. Kolima 2023 (Eds.), (1st ed., pp. 199-210). Available from: https://dspace.uclv.edu.cu/handle/123456789/14163
Betancourt VMH, Hernández OH, Chaviano GF. Efecto de tres dosis de VIUSID agro en el comportamiento productivo del frijol (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) variedad buenaventura. In: Valdivia YC, Peña Calzada K, editores. Soberanía alimentaria y desarrollo agropecuario y forestal sostenible: II. 2nd ed., 2024. p. 158-170. Available from: https://doi.org/10,5281/zenodo.15775462.
Ayyildiz M, Erdal G. The relationship between carbon dioxide emission and crop and livestock production indexes: a dynamic common correlated effects approach. Environ Sci Pollut Res. 2021;28(1):597-610. doi: http://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-10409-8
Maza NE, Álvarez MWC, Alvarado CMR, Hernández GT. Influencia de VIUSID agro en la producción de semillas de pepino (Cucumis sativus L.). Agric Trop. 2019; 5(1):1-11. Available from: http://ojs.inivit.cu/index.php?journal=inivit&page=issue&op=view&path%5B%5D=AT05012019
Funes Aguilar F. Reseña sobre el estado actual de la agroecología en Cuba. Agroecología. 2017;12(1):7-18. Available from: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo%3Fcodigo%3D6407551
Pérez-Fernández, N., Gutiérrez-Gevara, O., & Fonseca-Pérez, M. Efecto de VIUSID® Agro en el cultivo de lechuga (Lactuca sativa, L.) en condiciones de organoponía. Cultivos Tropicales, 2022 43(4), 1-7. Available from: https://ediciones.inca.edu.cu/index.php/ediciones/article/view/1704/3370
Magna M, Nunes M, Cassia R De, Saboya C, Grande C. Crescimento, produtividade e fertilidade do solo na cultura do algodoeiro sob o uso de biofertilizantes e adubación NPK. Rev Agroecol Semiárido. 2021;5(3):1-15. doi: http://doi.org/10.35512/ras.v5i3.5355
Rouphael Y, Colla G. Synergistic biostimulatory action: Designing the next generation of plant biostimulants for sustainable agriculture. Front Plant Sci. 2018; 9:1655. doi: http://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2018.01655
Gomes, M. M. de A., Costa, C. C., Pereira, U. dos S., Sousa, M. E. de, Sousa, C. A. A. de, Lopes, K. P., Diniz, G. L., & Silva, G. C. da. Foliar biostimulant application on the growth and development of Citrullus lanatus seedlings grown in salinized substrate. Cuaderno Pedagógico. (2024). 21(9), e8350. Available from: https://doi.org/10.54033/cadpedv21n9-322