Morphophysiological and Productive Responses of Garlic (Allium sativum L.) ‘Criollo’ Cultivar under the Effects of Biostimulants

García González, Marcos Tulio; Rodriguez Coca, Liuder Isidoro; Peña Calzada, Kolima; Gil Unday, Zuleiqui; Rodriguez Jáuregui, Marcia María; Rodríguez Castro, Yoandy; Delbino, Fernando; Dunger, German

doi:10.22059/ijhst.2025.383914.938

Morphophysiological and Productive Responses of Garlic (Allium sativum L.) ‘Criollo’ Cultivar under the Effects of Biostimulants

Document Type : Research paper

Authors

Marcos Tulio García González ¹

Liuder Isidoro Rodriguez Coca ²

Kolima Peña Calzada ¹

Zuleiqui Gil Unday ³

Marcia María Rodriguez Jáuregui ¹

Yoandy Rodríguez Castro ⁴

Fernando Delbino ⁵

German Dunger ⁶

¹ Universidad de Sancti Spíritus José Martí Pérez

² Transilvania University of Brașov

³ Uni-kassel

⁴ Unidad Científica Tecnológica de Base Alquizar, Instituto de Investigaciones de Fruticultura (IIFT)

⁵ Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional del Litoral

⁶ Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Argentina

10.22059/ijhst.2025.383914.938

Abstract

At present, food production is of considerable importance, particularly vegetables used as condiments and in the pharmaceutical industry. The application of biostimulants to enhance yield presents a promising alternative. This research aimed to evaluate the morphophysiological and productive responses of garlic to different biostimulants. The effectiveness of the biostimulants VIUSID Agro^®, FitoMas-E, Effective Microorganisms, and a formulation consisting of a mixture of all these was evaluated based on their differing compositions. Morphophysiological parameters such as bulb diameter, pseudostem diameter, number of cloves per bulb, growth rates, and yield, among others, were evaluated. The results revealed a significant increase in all morphological indicators with the application of the biostimulants. VIUSID Agro^® had the greatest effect on bulb diameter, with a rise of 14.59% compared with the control group. In addition, the absolute growth rate showed an average increase of 0.032 g d-1 with this biostimulant. With regards to the net assimilation rate, the best results were obtained with VIUSID Agro^®, Effective Microorganisms, and the combination of all biostimulants. Overall, VIUSID Agro^® had the best performance in terms of morphophysiological and production parameters. These results suggest that the use of these biostimulants may be beneficial for increasing garlic production, which could be crucial in the current global food supply situation.

Abbreviation: Leaf area (LA), Leaf area index (LAI), Leaf area ratio (LAR), Net assimilation rate (NAR), Relative growth rate (RGR), Absolute growth rate (AGR), Relative water content (RWC), Membrane stability index (MSI), Saturation deficit (SD), Days after sprouting (DAS), Nitrogen (N), Effective Microorganisms (E.M.)

Keywords

Garlic

biostimulant

food

growth rates

crop productivity