Analysis of RAZORMIN® as a Biostimulant and Its Effect on the Phytotoxicity Mitigation Caused by Fungicide Azoxystrobin in Pepper

Abstract

Use of biostimulants for stimulating plant growth and mitigating the negative impacts of biotic and abiotic stresses is a promising strategy to achieve higher crop yields. Fungicides such as azoxystrobin are used to control several pests and fungal diseases in plants but at the cost of altering various physiological processes; thereby, leading to reduced crop yields. The efficiency of the compound RAZORMIN® as a biostimulant product while taking into account its role in plant growth stimulation and fungicide azoxystrobin stress mitigation was evaluated in this study. The efficacy of RAZORMIN® was assessed considering its impact on the stimulation of growth-related physiological processes and stress mitigation mechanism, e.g., reactive oxygen species (ROS) detoxification. Application of RAZORMIN® significantly increased plant growth by improving fresh weight, photosynthetic efficiency, net photosynthesis rate, gas exchange, nitrogen (N) metabolism (with increases in soluble amino acids, foliar N concentration, and N use efficiency), growth hormone concentrations (mainly gibberellins and cytokinins), nutritional status of plants (producing a greater accumulation of phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sulfur, zinc, molybdenum, iron, and boron), and sugars concentration. Furthermore, the application of RAZORMIN® on plants under fungicide azoxystrobin stress demonstrated its anti-stress and protective role by stimulating the antioxidant defense system and improving photosynthetic efficiency.