Physiological responses and nutrition in passion fruit seedlings biostimulated with humic substances
- 1Center for Agricultural Sciences, Department of Soils and Rural Engineering, Federal University of Paraíba
- 2Postgraduate Program in Soil Science, Center for Agricultural Sciences, Federal University of Paraíba
- 3Department of Biology, Postgraduate Program in Agricultural Sciences, State University of Paraíba
Abstract
The production of high-quality passion fruit (Passiflora edulis) seedlings is essential for the establishment of commercial orchards, yet excessive mineral fertilization can compromise plant development. This study evaluated physiological, nutritional, and growth responses of yellow passion fruit seedlings biostimulated with different sources of humic substances (HS) under mineral fertilization regimes. A completely randomized 4 × 2 factorial design was used, with four HS sources (no HS, leonardite, forest growing medium HS, and organic cultivation growing medium HS) combined with two mineral fertilization levels (with and without), totaling eight seedlings with eight replications. Mineral fertilization markedly increased fresh aerial phytomass (+ 186%), shoot dry mass (+ 181.66%), and total chlorophyll content (+ 30.66%). HS application enhanced growth only in fertilized seedlings, with leonardite and forest growing medium HS increasing fresh aerial phytomass by 57.70 and 36.50%, respectively. Leonardite HS promoted root fresh phytomass (+ 78%), while organic cultivation growing medium HS maximized the Dickson quality index (+ 121.71%). In fertilized seedlings, forest growing medium HS significantly increased net photosynthetic rate (11.22 µmol CO2 m−2 s−1), water use efficiency (+ 117.09%), intrinsic water use efficiency (+ 180.71%), and instantaneous carboxylation efficiency (+ 149.34%). HS from organic cultivation growing medium also improved these efficiencies. Foliar N and K contents were adequate in fertilized seedlings, but P remained below critical levels. These findings confirm the synergistic effect of rational mineral fertilization and HS application, particularly from tropical growing medium sources, to enhance seedling vigor and physiological performance. Future research should investigate to elucidate long-term effects across the full crop cycle and post-harvest fruit quality.
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BibTeX
@article{silva2026physiological,
title = {{Physiological responses and nutrition in passion fruit seedlings biostimulated with humic substances}},
author = {Geovana Valéria Alves da Silva and Ramon Freire da Silva and João Pedro Mendes da Costa and Rodolpho José de Almeida Nascimento and Tancredo Augusto Feitosa de Souza and Háimyk Andressa Nóbrega de Souza and Thiago Jardelino Dias and Milton César Costa Campos and Alberto Soares de Melo and Bruno de Oliveira Dias},
journal = {Discover Plants},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1007/s44372-026-00873-w},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s44372-026-00873-w},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Physiological responses and nutrition in passion fruit seedlings biostimulated with humic substances
AU - Geovana Valéria Alves da Silva
AU - Ramon Freire da Silva
AU - João Pedro Mendes da Costa
AU - Rodolpho José de Almeida Nascimento
AU - Tancredo Augusto Feitosa de Souza
AU - Háimyk Andressa Nóbrega de Souza
AU - Thiago Jardelino Dias
AU - Milton César Costa Campos
AU - Alberto Soares de Melo
AU - Bruno de Oliveira Dias
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - Discover Plants
DO - 10.1007/s44372-026-00873-w
UR - https://doi.org/10.1007/s44372-026-00873-w
AB - The production of high-quality passion fruit (Passiflora edulis) seedlings is essential for the establishment of commercial orchards, yet excessive mineral fertilization can compromise plant development. This study evaluated physiological, nutritional, and growth responses of yellow passion fruit seedlings biostimulated with different sources of humic substances (HS) under mineral fertilization regimes. A completely randomized 4 × 2 factorial design was used, with four HS sources (no HS, leonardite, forest growing medium HS, and organic cultivation growing medium HS) combined with two mineral fertilization levels (with and without), totaling eight seedlings with eight replications. Mineral fertilization markedly increased fresh aerial phytomass (+ 186%), shoot dry mass (+ 181.66%), and total chlorophyll content (+ 30.66%). HS application enhanced growth only in fertilized seedlings, with leonardite and forest growing medium HS increasing fresh aerial phytomass by 57.70 and 36.50%, respectively. Leonardite HS promoted root fresh phytomass (+ 78%), while organic cultivation growing medium HS maximized the Dickson quality index (+ 121.71%). In fertilized seedlings, forest growing medium HS significantly increased net photosynthetic rate (11.22 µmol CO2 m−2 s−1), water use efficiency (+ 117.09%), intrinsic water use efficiency (+ 180.71%), and instantaneous carboxylation efficiency (+ 149.34%). HS from organic cultivation growing medium also improved these efficiencies. Foliar N and K contents were adequate in fertilized seedlings, but P remained below critical levels. These findings confirm the synergistic effect of rational mineral fertilization and HS application, particularly from tropical growing medium sources, to enhance seedling vigor and physiological performance. Future research should investigate to elucidate long-term effects across the full crop cycle and post-harvest fruit quality.
SN - 3005-1207
ER -