article · Plants
Drought induced by climate change limits tomato cultivation. This research investigated whether arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and compost could improve drought tolerance, yield, and fruit quality in tomato plants compared to conventional synthetic NPK fertilisers. In drought conditions, inoculating tomatoes with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi improved plant growth, protected the photosynthetic machinery from oxidative stress, and increased the levels of beneficial fruit compounds, including carotenoids, lycopene, polyphenols, and flavonoids. The fungi also raised leaf water potential, osmolytes, and antioxidant enzyme activities, lowering oxidative damage markers. Meanwhile, applying compost substantially boosted sugar and protein contents in the fruit. Although conventional chemical fertilisers support general plant growth, their efficiency under water stress remains comparatively low. Overall, using these biostimulants offers distinct physiological mechanisms to sustain tomato productivity and nutritional quality during periods of water scarcity.
Drought threatens agricultural productivity worldwide, making resilient crop management crucial for food security. Showing that natural biostimulants such as mycorrhizal fungi and compost can outperform conventional synthetic fertilisers under water stress helps identify sustainable farming methods. These treatments protect tomato yields while simultaneously boosting vital nutritional and antioxidant compounds in the harvest, addressing both crop survival and food quality challenges in drying climates.
The findings point to commercial opportunities for biofertiliser manufacturers and agricultural input suppliers developing compost and fungal biostimulants for horticulture. Tomato growers operating in water-scarce regions could utilise these treatments to sustain yields and produce fruits with higher bioactive content. This is applied, comparative experimental research, suggesting that while the biological effects are tested, product formulations and field-scale delivery methods would require further development before wide commercial deployment.
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Climate change-driven water resource constraints cause tomatoes to suffer from drought. The use of biostimulants has emerged as an important approach to enhancing resilience to drought. However, the roles of biostimulants in the physicochemical characteristics of tomatoes in response to drought are poorly understood. In this study, we evaluated the ability of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and compost (versus NPK application) to improve the agro-physiology, yield, and fruit quality of tomato plants and their tolerance to drought by comparing them with conventional chemical fertilizers (NPK). Under drought conditions, plant growth traits associated with yield and fruit bioactive compounds (carotenoids: 73%; lycopene: 53%; polyphenols: 310%; and flavonoids: 158%) were increased in the AMF-tomato treatment. Compost significantly enhanced sugars (ca. 60%) and protein contents (ca. 20%). Moreover, AMF protected the photosynthetic apparatus from drought-induced oxidative stress, improved photosynthetic efficiency, leaf water potential, and osmolytes, and reduced malondialdehyde (MDA) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) accumulation by increasing peroxidase (POX) (140%) and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) (340%) activities compared to their controls. Our findings revealed that NPK is an important nutrient-based fertilizer for plant growth and development. However, its efficiency as a fertilizer is quite low. In addition, we highlighted different mechanisms mediated by AMF and compost, inducing drought tolerance in tomato plants.
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DOI: 10.3390/plants12091856
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