Biostimulants
Unlocking Plant Potential:
An Introduction to Biostimulants
Applied to both plants and soils, biostimulants enhance crop vigour, yield, quality, and tolerance to abiotic stress such as heat or drought. They may be single molecules, compounds, or micro-organisms.
Unlike conventional crop protection products, biostimulants don’t act directly on pests or diseases. Instead, they influence plant metabolism – ranging from improving nutrient absorption to triggering beneficial biochemical processes.
Though they may contain nutrients, biostimulants work differently from fertilisers and serve as a complementary input alongside crop nutrition and protection.
Definition
Under the European Union’s Fertilising Products Regulation, the definition of a plant biostimulant, which EBIC helped to define, is
“A product which stimulates plant nutrition processes independently of the product’s nutrient content, with the sole aim of improving one or more of the following characteristics of the plant or the plant rhizosphere: nutrient use efficiency, tolerance to abiotic stress, quality traits, or the availability of confined nutrients in soil or rhizosphere.”
Why do we need biostimulants?
“They support farmers and the food supply chain by enhancing crop yield and quality, improving nutrient use efficiency, and helping plants withstand environmental stress.”
European Biostimulants Industry Council
Our biostimulant portfolio
Every plant faces stress – heat, drought, or poor soil conditions – that can disrupt its metabolism, slow its growth or even cause irreversible damage.
Many biostimulants rely on complex combinations of active ingredients like amino acids, seaweed extracts or humic acids.
This is where Fyteko takes a radically different approach.
By observing how plants react under stressful conditions, Fyteko identified the plant’s stress response mechanism and replicated it by producing a groundbreaking active ingredient, the Signal Molecule.
This single molecule, a patented technology based on hydroxycinnamic acid oligomers, works as a plant signaling molecule. It triggers the plant’s defence mechanism. Applied to plants, this biomolecule primes the plant to withstand future abiotic stresses, acting in a similar way to a vaccine.
The clearly defined mode of action seen in NURSPRAY® and NURSEED® has been thoroughly studied, both in the lab and the field.
With this new category of biomolecules, Fyteko heralds a new generation of biostimulants for crop resilience, inspired by nature and backed with science.
Unique
Mode of action
The plant cell wall plays a key role in crops’ response to abiotic stress. A physical barrier with a structural and protective role, it is also the first sensor of environmental conditions changes and can trigger protective shifts in plant metabolism.
These shifts include the release of hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives which induce metabolic changes to provide protection to the plant. These changes include an increase in levels of proline, an amino acid, in turn inducing the synthesis of internal osmoprotectants.
But if there’s no stress, the plant recycles these metabolites – leaving the defence mechanism in a pre-activated state – with minimal energy spendings.
This ‘priming’ allows the plant to mount a more efficient, more rapid response when a stress reoccurs.
By using hydroxycinnamic acid oligomers to emulate this natural plant defence mechanism, Fyteko’s Signal Molecule primes the plant to be able to respond robustly to abiotic stress.
The results
Research shows that plants treated with our Signal Molecule are better protected and recover quicker from abiotic stress, increasing yield.
Key technological concept
We produce our Signal Molecule using an environmentally friendly process: green chemistry, no organic solvent, non-hazardous conditions.
Distinguishing features: one unique active ingredient, standardized and chemically characterized with a high level of purity.
Production process
The Signal Molecule is produced by extracting monomers from plant cells, which then go through a biocatalysis process to recreate the naturally occurring bioactive oligomers.
Effect on the plant
Through the application of our novel Signal Molecule, our product induces the production of osmolytes and antioxidants that the plants naturally accumulate during hydric stress.
Bioactive
oligomers
Preventive application
Natural plant response
Our production site
At Fyteko, we are a 360° company. Collaborating with us means partnering with a team that manages the entire process – from idea generation and product development in our R&D department to industrial-scale production.
Our production team brings products to life – ensuring seamless production and rigorous quality control for every client, with just-in-time delivery that’s both smooth and efficient.
Located in Mons, Belgium, our 750 m² facility houses both our production site and our Quality Assurance laboratory – ensuring the highest standards of compliance and quality in our products.
Our products
NURSEED®
Seed treatment formulation with a novel Signal Molecule, based on hydroxycinnamic acid oligomers. NURSEED® enhances crop establishment and mitigates the effects of abiotic stress, such as drought or heat. By improving emergence, vigour, and uniformity, NURSEED® strengthens seedlings in their early stages of development resulting in increased yield.
NURSPRAY®
Foliar spray featuring a novel Signal Molecule that boosts crop resilience and recovery under hydric stress. Based on hydroxycinnamic acid oligomers, NURSPRAY® activates plants’ internal tolerance mechanism towards abiotic stress, such as drought or heat.
