Plant growth promoting activity of seaweed liquid extracts produced from Macrocystis pyrifera under different pH and temperature conditions

Diego Briceño-Domínguez, Gustavo Hernández-Carmona, Mack Moyo, Wendy Stirk, Johannes van Staden

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

58 Scopus citations

Abstract

Most commercial algal extracts are produced from brown algae by alkaline hydrolysis; however, little scientific information has been published regarding the details of the production process. In this research, we have investigated the effect of pH (pH8–12) and temperature (40, 60, and 80°C) on liquid extract production from the brown alga Macrocystis pyrifera. Production conditions influenced the physicochemical characteristics of the final product as the extract viscosity increased with increasing pH and temperature to a maximum which occurred at pH10 and 80°C. This suggests that at higher pH conditions, alginate and other polysaccharides were extracted. All the extracts obtained promoted growth of tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum) and adventitious root formation in the mung bean cutting bioassay (Vigna radiata), as the pH process was increased during the production of the liquid extracts. The highest auxin-type activity was obtained with the extract produced at pH11 and 80°C, while the fastest tomato seedling growth was achieved with the extract produced at pH12 and 80°C.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2203-2210
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Applied Phycology
Volume26
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - 17 Oct 2014
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Macrocystis
  • Plant growth
  • Processing factors
  • Seaweed extracts
  • Viscosity

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