ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Plant Sci.

Sec. Plant Biotechnology

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1650824

Bioactive Compounds in Extracts from Short Rotation Willow Shoots Known as Pharmaceuticals and Experimental Demonstration of Biostimulation of Maize Plants by These Chemical Complexes

Provisionally accepted
Zoltán ZomboriZoltán Zombori1Gabriella SzalaiGabriella Szalai2Kamirán Áron HamowKamirán Áron Hamow2Miklós HóváriMiklós Hóvári1László SassLászló Sass1Györgyi FerencGyörgyi Ferenc1Tibor JandaTibor Janda2Dénes DuditsDénes Dudits1*
  • 1HUN-REN Szegedi Biologiai Kutatokozpont, Szeged, Hungary
  • 2HUN-REN Agrartudomanyi Kutatokozpont, Martonvásár, Hungary

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Extracts from willow bark or leaves were shown to contain effective plant biostimulants and pharmaceutical compounds. Considering the limitation in the use of bark raw materials on large scale, here we analyzed the stimulatory effects of extracts from various organs of willow (Salix viminalis L) plants grown as short rotation shrub willow. Metabolomic analysis of water extracts from different organs (leaves, meristems, stems) of two triploid genotypes (Rába and Maros) revealed presence of bioactive compounds. Quantity of phenylpropanoids, flavones, flavonols, anthocyanins, aminobenzoate degradants, plant hormones and stylbenes varied between organs and genotypes. Several of these bioactive compounds are known as pharmaceuticals. Here we carried out phytostimulatory tests by using various extracts for seed priming and foliar spraying of maize plants in greenhouse and field experiments. Both the digital imagining of maize plants and measurements of the plant height showed variable stimulation of growth. Chlorophyll fluorescence parameters indicated improved photosynthetic performance. Increased seed weight/ ear and 1000 seed weight (17%) were detected after foliar spraying. The present study supports the extended application of bioactive phytocompounds by offering a novel raw material, the short rotation willow shoots as sources of bioactive compounds for use in agricultural practice and pharmaceutical industry.

Keywords: HUN-REN Biological Research Centre, H-6726 Szeged, Temesvári krt. 62. Hungary active phytobiological metabolites, LC-MS/MS, Metabolomic pathways, Salix sp., Seed priming, spraying

Received: 20 Jun 2025; Accepted: 14 Jul 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Zombori, Szalai, Hamow, Hóvári, Sass, Ferenc, Janda and Dudits. 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: Dénes Dudits, HUN-REN Szegedi Biologiai Kutatokozpont, Szeged, Hungary

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary Material