Institute of Horticultural Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan.
Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Avinguda Diagonal 643, 08028, Barcelona, Spain.
Plant Sci. 2020 Jun;295:110194. doi: 10.1016/j.plantsci.2019.110194. Epub 2019 Jul 19.
The horticulture sector is facing various challenges in the near future. Aside from maintaining or even improving yields, sustainable horticulture production is crucial to achieve food security. Reducing the reliance on agro-chemicals and/or increasing the efficiency of use under a changing climate is crucial. Natural biostimulants can play an important role in this regard, increasing production at a relatively low cost sustainably. Natural biostimulant feedstocks include leaf, root or seed extracts, either individually or in combination with others. Their positive effect on horticultural production is mostly due to plant growth-enhancing bioactive compounds such as phytohormones, amino acids, and nutrients. Here we review recent progress made in research and applications on plant-derived extracts with an emphasis on the use of these renewable biochemicals as biostimulants in sustainable horticulture. Moringa leaf extracts in particular have been shown to improve seed germination, plant growth and yield, nutrient use efficiency, crop and product quality traits (pre- and post-harvest), as well as tolerance to abiotic stresses. Although horticulture production relies on synthetic fertilisers to maintain and improve production, the use of plant-derived biostimulants such as moringa leaf extracts may be an option to reduce quantities needed and thus contribute in achieving global food security sustainably.
园艺业在不久的将来将面临各种挑战。除了保持甚至提高产量外，可持续的园艺生产对于实现粮食安全至关重要。减少对农用化学品的依赖和/或在气候变化下提高使用效率至关重要。天然生物刺激素在这方面可以发挥重要作用，以相对较低的成本可持续地提高产量。天然生物刺激素的原料包括叶、根或种子提取物，单独使用或与其他物质结合使用。它们对园艺生产的积极影响主要归因于植物生长促进的生物活性化合物，如植物激素、氨基酸和营养物质。在这里，我们回顾了最近在植物提取物的研究和应用方面取得的进展，重点介绍了这些可再生生物化学物质作为可持续园艺中生物刺激素的用途。特别是辣木叶提取物已被证明可以提高种子发芽率、植物生长和产量、养分利用效率、作物和产品质量特性（收获前和收获后）以及对非生物胁迫的耐受性。尽管园艺生产依赖于化肥来维持和提高产量，但使用辣木叶等植物源性生物刺激素可能是减少所需数量的一种选择，从而有助于可持续地实现全球粮食安全。
