Table 2 Different Biostimulants and their impact on Fruit crops

1. Humic substances (Humic acid & Fulvic Acid)

 Apricot

Actosol® (contains 2.9% humic acid)

Foliar spraying with 15 cm³ per tree and 75 cm³/3 L as a weekly soil addition

Both foliar as well as soil Application

•↑↑ the vegetative growth ( shoot length, chlorophyll content

•↑↑most of yield determinations and fruit quality

Fathy et al. (2010)

 Pineapple

Humic acid + Vermicompost + Microbes

Soil Application

•↑↑ growth and adaptation of pineapple plantlets to the ex vitro environment

Baldotto et al. (2010)

 Strawberry

Vermicompost leachates (Humic substances)

Foliar spray

•↑↑ fruit yield (10–14%) and

•↓↓ incidence of grey mould

Singh et al. (2009)

 Strawberry

Humic acids

Foliar spray and fertigation

•↑↑ nutrient use efficiency

Ameri et al. (2012)

 Peach

Commercial humic acids

5 cm³/tree three times

Both foliar as well assoil Application

•↑↑ fruit yield and quality

Mansour et al. (2013)

 Strawberry

HA commercial soluble product

–

foliar spray

•↑↑ yield (33%), fruit firmness and total soluble solid percent

Farahi et al. (2013)

 Yellow passion fruit

Humic acids

7.5, 15.0, 22.5 and 30 ml/L

Foliar spray

•↑↑root dry weight by 124% in seedlings

•Amoleriated seedling quality

Cavalcante et al. (2013)

 Lime

Humic acid

4.5 ml/L

Soil Application

•↑↑ shoot fresh and dry weights, root dry weight and shoot potassium concentration

Jahromi and Hassanzadeh (2016)

 Strawberry

Humic acid + seaweed extract (1500 mg/L)

400 mg/L + SWE 1500 mg/L

Both soil and foliar spray

•↑↑yield, and physico-chemical characteristics [total soluble solids and titratable acidity; amount of vitamin C (Ascorbic acid)]

Alkharpotly et al. (2017)

 Mango

Humic acids

7.5 ml/L

Drenching

•↑↑ the plant height, leaf area, plant spread, girth at collar, root length,

•number of secondary and tertiary roots,

•↑↑dry matter production

Rajan et al. (2018)

 Kiwifruit

Humic acid

4 ml/L

Both foliar and Drenching

•↑↑yield, and physico-chemical characteristics [total soluble solids and titratable acidity; amount of vitamin C (Ascorbic acid)]

Hadi et al. (2018)

 Strawberry

Nitrogen and humic acid

100 kg ha⁻¹ and 4 kg ha⁻¹, respectively

Soil application and foliar

•highest values for the leaf area, fruit yield,

•chlorophyll a, carotenoids and titratable acidity are associated with the combined treatments of with concentrations of

Rostami et al. (2022)

 Olive

Arginine + humic acid

–

Foliar

•↑↑ fruit protein content and total chlorophyll

Nargesi et al. (2022)

2. Phosphites

 Banana

Phosphorous acid

(50% P as HPO₄²⁻ and 50% as H₂PO³⁻

Nutrient solution in hydroponics

•↑↑ Biomass dry weight, foliar area and P content in the whole plant

Bertsch et al. (2009)

 Strawberry

Phosphoric acid (Liquid NPK 3:12:15 fertilizer Phosfik1)

0.3% liquid NP

Plants soaked and irrigated

•↑↑ fruit acidity, ascorbic acid and anthocyanin content

Moor et al. (2009)

 Strawberry

Potassium phosphite

6.7% of total P as Phi

Root application through a controlled watering system

•↑↑ roots growth and shoots

Glinicki et al. (2010)

 Strawberry

Phosphoric acid

30% of total P as Phi

Nutrient solution applied to the roots

•↑↑ chlorophyll, amino acids and proteins contents in leaves

Ortiz et al. (2011)

 Strawberry

Phosphorous acid

(20% of total P as Phi)

Nutrient solution applied to the roots

•↑↑ sugar concentration and firmness of fruits; improves shelf life

Ortiz et al. (2012)

 Grapes

Potassium phosphite

5.0 g L⁻¹ of P₂O₅

Foliar spray

•↑↑ productivity, total soluble phenolic compounds;

•↑↑ total soluble solids and pH,

•↓↓ total titratable acidity of the berries

Pereira et al. (2012)

 Strawberry

Phosphorous acid

(20–30% of total P as Phi)

Nutrient solution applied to the roots

•↑↑ acidity, sugars, ions concentration and anthocyanin concentration in fruits

Ortiz et al. (2013)

3. Seaweed extracts

 Mango

Seaweed extract

0.2% Seaweeds

Foliar spray

•↑↑ fruit yield producing large sized fruits with superior quality

Mohamed and El-Sehrawy (2013)

 Peach

Seaweed extract

4 ml.L⁻¹

Foliar spray

•↑↑ total leaves area, leaf chlorophyll content; leaf carbohydrates, leaf nitrogen content and leaf zinc content

Al-Rawi et al. (2016)

 Date palm

Sea weed extact + postassium nitrate

Seaweed extracts and KNO₃ at 2%

Foliar spray

•↑↑ bunch weight, fruit yield, fruit and flesh weight

•↑↑soluble solids content, sugars content and fruit moisture

Omar et al. (2017)

 Mulberry

seaweed extract from A. nodosum

0.5 ml/L at 21, 28 and 35 days

Foliar spray

•↑↑ leaf yield per plant and protein content

Pappachan et al. (2017)

 Banana

Seaweed (A. nodosum L.)

2 g/L

Foliar spray

•↑↑bunch weight and yield,

El-Kholy (2017)

 Olive

Sea weed extract

6 ml/L

Foliar spray

•↑↑ leaf area, leaves chlorophyll content, leaves dry weight and leaves carbohydrates content

Al-Hadethi (2019)

 Grapevine

Seaweed (A. nodosum L.)

1 g/Lt

Foliar spray

•↑↑ yield and no. of berries

•↑↑ anthocyanin content

Taskos et al. (2019)

 Sour orange

Sea weed extact + CPPU

SWE (Agazone algae extract @ 9 ml/L + CPPU@ 8 mg/ L⁻¹)

Foliar spray

•↑↑ seedling height, number of leaves, area of leaves and increase plant stem diameter rate

Ali and Al-Araji (2020)

 Strawberry

Seaweed extracts (Alga 600)

4, g/L-1

Fertigation

•↑↑ number of flowers per plant, yielding units/plant

•↑↑ in fruit quality like TSS, sugar acids ratio

Al-Shatri et al. (2020)

 Mango seedling

Seaweed extract

4 ml/L

Foliar Spray

•↑↑ leaf nitrogen content, leaf potassium, leaf iron and leaf zinc content

Al-Marsoumi and Al-Hadethi (2020)

 Grapes

seaweed extract

2 g/L

Foliar spray

•↑↑ yield and berry attributes

•↑↑amino acid content and Vitamins improved vine C/N ratio,

El-Sese et al. 2020

4. Protein hydrolysates

 Strawberry

Animal derived PH (Aminoflor)

5 L/ha

Foliar spray

•↑↑ dry matter and nitrate content of leaves

•↓↓ weight of daughter plants

Lisiecka et al. (2011)

 Banana

Chicken feather derived PH

10 g/ L

Soil and foliar

•↑↑ nutrient, chlorophyll content, and proline in leaves

•↑↑ sugars, proteins, amino acids, phenolics and flavonoids in fruits

Gurav and Jadhav (2013)

 Pecannut

Protein hydrolysate Supramino + urea + boric acid + zinc sulphate

5 ml/L supramino + 0.5% urea + 0.1% boric acid + 0.5% zinc sulphate

Foliar spray

•↑↑ nut weight, kernel weight/length/breadth; fruit size and weight; kernel protein content

•↑↑ Zn, Fe, Mn, Cu foliar contents

Ashraf et al. (2013)

 Persimmon

Protein hydrolysate + calcium salts

5 L/ha, every 8 days, 7 times in 2012 and 23 L ha^− 1, every 6 days, 24 times in 2013

Drenching and injection

•↓↓ Cl⁻ uptake, leaf necrosis, and leaf water potential

Visconti et al. (2015)

 Strawberry

Amino-acids of animal origin

5, 1.0 and 1.5 g per plant

Four drench applications

•↑↑ resistance to frost damages

Bogunovic et al. (2015)

 Date palm

Coconut Milk + Casein Hydrolysate

Coconut Milk 30% and Casein Hydrolysate 2.5 g/L

Foliar spray

•↑↑ chlorophyll content, total carbohydrate, protein, amino acid, phenol and indole

Hosny et al. (2016)

 Grapevine

Protein hydrolysates (PHs)

1.6 and 6.4 g/L

Foliar spray

•↑↑ yield per vines

•↑↑ qualitative parameter like anthocyanin content colour shape, phenolic content, TSS

Boselli et al. (2019)

5. Chitosan

 Dragon fruit

Chitosan from crab shell

50 kDa, 75–85% DD encapsulated as droplets of 200, 600 and 1000 nm diameter

Fruit dipping in post-harvest

•↑↑ fruit firmness and titratable acidity, total phenolics, flavonoids, lycopene and antioxidants, d

•↓↓ weight loss and respiration rate

Ali et al. (2013)

 Peach

Chitosan + oligochitosan

Chitosan and oligochitosan @ 0.5 and 5.0 g/L

Foliar spray

•↓↓ post-harvest losses by delaying fruit softening & promotes antioxidant and

Ma et al. (2013)

 Kiwifruit

Chitosan

Chitosan (∼85% DD, MW = 20–30 kDa) applied at 1.0 kg/ha

Foliar spray

•↑↑ fruit fresh weight and yield,

•↓↓ the incidence of disease

Scortichini (2014)

 White and red prickly pears

Medium-MW chitosan

Medium-MW chitosan (85% DD) at 1% (w/v) in 0.6% (v/v)

Fruit dipping (peeled) in post-harvest

•↓↓ weight loss,

• = firmness and colour

•↑↑Improved the sensory values

Ochoa and Guerrero-Beltrán (2014)

 Citrus

Neem + kurtuma leaf extract

30% neem and kurtuma leaf extract

Foliar application

•↓↓ infestation of citrus leaf-miner

Shareef et al. (2016)

 Grapevines

Chitosan + Salicylic acid + Fulvic acid

500 mg/L

Foliar Spray

•↑↑ shoot length, leaf area,

•↑↑total chlorophyll and total protein,

•↑↑yield per vine, cluster weight, berry weight, soluble solids content

•↑↑ total phenols while reducing total acidity, cluster weight loss%,berry shatter % and berry decay%

•↓↓loss in cluster weight percentages during storage shelf life period

El-Kenawy (2017)

 Mango

Nano-chitosan

Nano-chitosan 5 ml/L

Foliar Spray

•↑↑ fruits yield as number of fruit or weight/tree

•↓↓ malformation percentage

Zagzog et al. 2017

 Washington Navel Orange

Chitosan

2 g/L

Foliar spray

•↑↑ leafy inflorescence

•↑↑ fruit set % and Canopy yield as weight (kg/m3)

•↑↑ chlorophyll contents

•↑↑physico-chemical properties of fruit

Mohamed and Ahmed 2019

 Pomegranate

Chitosan

chitosan at 0.5%

Foliar spray

•↑↑ improved the yield and fruit quality comparing

•↓↓ the fruit cracking

Ibtesam et al. (2019)

 Cherry

Chitosan coatings

2%

Dipping

•↑↑firmness

•↓↓ reduced the expression of pectin methylesterase-related genes

Xin et al. (2020)

6. Botanicals

 Citrus

Neem + kurtuma leaf extract

30% neem and kurtuma leaf extract

foliar application

•↓↓ infestation of citrus leaf-miner

Shareef et al. (2016)

 Cherry

Wildflower strips

height of 20 cm with regular cutting

•↓↓ aphids (bait cards) in by 25%

Mateos et al. (2021)

7. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AM Fungi)

 Grapevines

Arbuscular-mycorrhizal fungi (AMF)

20 g of mycorrhizal inoculum per plant

Soil application

•↑↑chlorophyll, carotenoids, proline, phenol

Krishna et al. (2005)

 Tangerine orange

AMF (Glomus versiforme)

30 g innoculum per pot

Soil application

•↑↑ leaf water potential, transpiration rates, photosynthetic rate, stomatal, conductance, relative water content and reduced leaf temperature

Wu and Xia (2006)

 Citrus

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi

–

Soil application

•↑↑ plant height, stem diameter, shoot, root and total plant biomass, photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate and stomatal conductance

Wu et al. (2010)

 Loquat

AMF (Funneliformis mosseae)

300 g of mycorrhizal inoculum per plant

Soil application

•↑↑ dry biomass and leaf water potential,

Zhang et al. (2015a, b)

 Kiwifruit

,Glomus mosseae(G.m)and G.versiforme(G.v)

5 g of inoculum

Soil application

•↑↑ absorption of N,P and K nutrients

•↑↑ photosynthetic activity

Chen and Zeng 2016

 Strawberry

Claroideoglomus aff. luteum, C. claroideum, C. etunicatum, Funneliformis mosseae and Glomus sp

–

Soil application

•↑↑ root system and fruit anthocyanin content

Chiomento et al. (2019)

 Newhall navel orange

Diversispora spurca and D. versiformis

Soil application

•↑↑ Root fungal colonization

•↑↑increased soil phosphatases, and aggregate stability

•↑↑ fruit quality and mineral element contents

Cheng et al. (2022)

9. Beneficial bacteria

 Sour cherry

Bacillus mycoides T8 + Bacillus subtilis OSU-142

OSU-142

Floral and foliar

•↑↑ shoot length and fruit yield

Arikan and Pirlak (2016)

 Quince

Pseudomonas fluorescens) and (Rhodococcus rhodochrous)

PGPR + NPK and PGPR + 1/2 NPK

Soil combination

•↑↑ average flesh firmness, values andyield

Gerçekcİoğlu et al. (2018)

 Strawberry

Bacillus licheniformis CKA 1+ Root dip method + Foliar application

10⁹ cfu/ ml

Root + foliar application

•↑↑ growth and yield

•↑↑ fruit quality like TSS compared to

Kumari et al. (2018)