Impact of Two Brown Seaweed (Ascophyllum nodosum L.) Biostimulants on the Quantity and Quality of Yield in Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.)

Algal biostimulants are increasingly integral to vegetable cultivation due to their capacity to boost yield, alleviate abiotic and biotic stress, and enhance overall crop quality. This study evaluated the impact of two commercially available algal-based biostimulants on cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.), examining their effects on yield, number of fruits, dry weight, color, flesh thickness, skin thickness, plastid pigments, and tocopherol content. Both biostimulant treatments resulted in a roughly 13% decrease in yield and fruit number compared to the control treatment. Notably, the biostimulants positively influenced the fruit brightness parameter (L*), leading to darker fruits. Fitostim® algal biostimulant exhibited a positive effect on dry weight during the initial harvest. The predominant pigments were chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b (constituting 80% of all analyzed pigments), and the most abundant tocopherol was α-tocopherol, comprising 80% to 90% of tocopherols. Skin tissues contained significantly higher levels of pigments and tocopherols compared to flesh. Both biostimulants caused a notable decrease in total tocopherol content in the skin at the first harvest, with reductions of 19.91 mg/kg DW for Phylgreen® and 9.43 mg/kg DW for Fitostim® algae. The study underscores the variable efficacy of biostimulants, emphasizing their dependence on the specific biostimulant type and fruit part. The application of biostimulants has the potential to substantially enhance the internal quality of cucumbers, particularly in terms of plastid pigments and tocopherols, offering potential health benefits for consumers.