ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Nutrition
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1645768
This article is part of the Research TopicGreen Growth: Innovations in Plant Science for Biostimulant ApplicationsView all 7 articles
Physiological Efficacy of the Amino Acid-Based Biostimulants Pepton 85/16, Pepton Origin, and Nutriterra in Lettuce Grown under Optimal and Reduced Synthetic Nitrogen Fertilization
Provisionally accepted- 1Department of Plant Physiology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
- 2University of Granada, Granada, Spain
- 3APC Europe, Granollers, Spain
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Improving nitrogen (N) use efficiency (NUE) is a key objective in sustainable agriculture, particularly for leafy vegetables such as lettuce, which require high N inputs. Biostimulants offer a promising strategy for enhancing crop performance while reducing fertilizer dependency. In this study, we evaluated the effects of three amino acid-based biostimulants, Pepton 85/16, Pepton Origin, and Nutriterra, on lettuce growth and NUE under three N fertilization levels (100%, 70%, and 40% of the recommended dose). All biostimulants improved shoot biomass, leaf area, and physiological performance, including photosynthetic rate (A) and key N assimilation parameters. Nutriterra was the most effective under full N supply, enhancing both productivity and water use efficiency (WUE) while reducing leaf nitrate concentration, contributing to improved crop quality. Under N-limited conditions, Pepton 85/16 consistently outperformed the other products, especially at 70% N, where it restored and even exceeded the biomass levels observed under optimal N. This effect was associated with enhanced nitrate reductase (NR) and glutamine synthetase (GS) activity, increased protein and amino acid concentrations, and higher organic N levels. While Pepton Origin also showed beneficial effects under N limitation, its impact was less pronounced. Overall, the targeted use of these biostimulants represents an effective strategy for maintaining productivity and reducing synthetic N fertilization in lettuce cultivation systems.
Keywords: Amino Acids, biostimulants, Humic acids, nitrate, nitrogen metabolism, Photosynthesis, Protein Hydrolysates
Received: 12 Jun 2025; Accepted: 25 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Atero-Calvo, Navarro-León, Polo and Ruiz. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Eloy Navarro-León, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
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