Encapsulation with Natural Polymers to Improve the Properties of Biostimulants in Agriculture

Encapsulation in agriculture today is practically focused on agrochemicals such as pes ticides, herbicides, fungicides, or fertilizers to enhance the protective or nutritive aspects of the entrapped active ingredients. However, one of the most promising and environmentally friendly technologies, biostimulants, is hardly explored in this field. Encapsulation of biostimulants could indeed be an excellent means of counteracting the problems posed by their nature: they are easily biodegradable, and most of them run off through the soil, losing most of the compounds, thus becoming inaccessible to plants. In this respect, encapsulation seems to be a practical and profitable way to increase the stability and durability of biostimulants under field conditions. This review paper aims to provide researchers working on plant biostimulants with a quick overview of how to get started with encapsulation. Here we describe different techniques and offer protocols and suggestions for introduction to polymer science to improve the properties of biostimulants for future agricultural applications.

Keywords

Agriculture Biostimulants Encapsulation Chitosan Alginate Guar gum Xanthan gum Carrageenans Natural biopolymers . Faculdade de Ciências Exatas e da Engenharia Escola Superior de Tecnologias e Gestão Faculdade de Ciências da Vida

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.13/5235

Citation

Jíménez-Arias, D., Morales-Sierra, S., Silva, P., Carrêlo, H., Gonçalves, A., Ganança, J. F. T., ... & Carvalho, M. Â. P. (2023). Encapsulation with Natural Polymers to Improve the Properties of Biostimulants in Agriculture. Plants, 12(1), 55.