Protein biostimulant foliar uptake modeling: The impact of climatic conditions

Biostimulants are substances which promote plant metabolism and are able to increase yields of various crops. However, their efficiency at field can be affected by climatic conditions. A novel mathematical model based on diffusion transport mechanism is proposed to predict the biostimulant uptake at different climatic conditions. The main input model parameter is experimentally measured effective diffusion coefficient of the biostimulant. The model is applied to a biostimulant prepared from leather waste by enzymatic hydrolysis. Simulations show that climatic conditions have significant impact on biostimulant penetration and should not be neglected in biostimulant application and further research. The suggested model is able to explain observed differences between laboratory and field biostimulant investigations, as well as draw recommendations for protein biostimulant application. The model also shows that the theoretical tools of chemical engineering can be used for optimization of biostimulant performance. (C) 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2012