Journal of Agronomy and Field Innovations

Background: Solanum lycopersicum L. is a major vegetable crop grown for the purposes of food security and micronutrients content around the globe, covering about 4.8 million hectares every year. The sustainable intensification of tomato production entails finding alternatives to traditional synthetic fertilizers, which resulted in the interest in plant biostimulants, and more specifically protein hydrolysates derived from various protein substrates.
Objective: This research evaluated the effects of protein hydrolysate biostimulants on vegetative growth, physiological performance, fruit yield and antioxidant activity of tomatoes.
Methods: The study was run according to a randomized complete block design with five treatments repeated three times. Treatments included a control (water spray), recommended fertilizer dose (RFD) and RFD plus protein hydrolysate in concentrations of 1, 2, 3 and 4 mL·L⁻¹ via foliar spray applied at three growth stages.
Results: Application of protein hydrolysate brought about a significant enhancement of plant height by 23.7%, dry biomass by 31.4%, and chlorophyll content by 18.9% when compared to control plants. The fruit yield was increased by 42.3% with the best treatment of protein hydrolysate (3mL·L⁻¹ + RFD). Antioxidant capacity measurements showed the content of total phenols of 34.8 mg GAE·100g⁻¹ FW, total flavonoids of 12.6 mg QE·100g⁻¹ FW, and DPPH scavenging activity of 78.2%, which made a significant difference in treated plants.
Conclusion: Protein hydrolysate biostimulants increase the growth of tomato plants, making results competitive in terms of yield and nutritional quality of fruit produced and hence holding promises for sustainable vegetable production systems.