The biostimulants achieved in the LIFE Superbiodiesel project meet the specifications of UNE-EN 16086 standard for soil improvers

Any living organism synthesizes amino acid sequences to form proteins. Plants behave in the same way, by directly using the amino acids to get nurtured, thus avoiding having to synthetize them and saving this energy to perform different metabolic processes that boost their production.

The enzymatic process used within the Life Superbiodiesel project, after optimizing its parameters –according to the previous post-, enables free amino acids to be recovered from the discarded protein fraction of animal waste.

But are those free amino acids able to nurture the plants in compliance with the applicable standards?

The Life Superbiodiesel project has validated as per UNE-EN 16086 standard the amino acids obtained, both for growing in pots and on Petri dishes -standard’s parts no. 1 & 2, respectively- by determining its good performance on boosting plant growth.

In order to do this, INESCOP, the partner conducting these tests, has initially planted Chinese cabbage in a pot at the conditions specified in standard’s part no.1. Growth both at a low and medium concentration of biostimulant doses was found to be faster than at a high concentration of these doses, in which growth inhibition was even observed.

Secondly, the test corresponding to standard’s part no. 2 was performed on a Petri dish by using lettuce and Chinese cabbage. Germination results have shown that Chinese cabbage increases its growth rate in a range of 35 to 40% under a low concentration of biostimulant doses.

Finally, they have proceeded to determine the plants’ response by comparing it on the pots to that on the Petri dishes. However, pot tests showed to be more qualitative, since seeds’ depth when planting has influenced the final results; it is a less homogeneous procedure, thus results showing a greater dispersion. The most representative tests were carried out by evaluating the growth germination on Petri dishes.

Consequently, the biostimulants achieved within the Life Superbiodiesel project are suitable as organic fertilizer or biostimulant, hence having a great marketing potential.

This conclusion was reached on October 4^th, 2021 in the framework of the 4^th General Assembly of the project, held at Organovac facilities -where the pilot plant of the project shall be hosted.