Santos, Ana PaulaVilchez, Juan IgnacioSantos, Ana Sofia2024-02-072024-03-312023-06-222023-03-31http://hdl.handle.net/10362/163199"Chemical fertilizers have become frequent in agriculture to meet the escalating demand of an evergrowing world population, projected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050. However, these conventional agricultural practices have led to severe problems in human's health, animals, plants, and the entire environment, including plant-related microbiota. In Portugal and many other seaside countries worldwide, seaweeds were traditionally used in agricultural fields, providing crops with organic matter, minerals, trace elements, plant-growth regulators, vitamins and other bioactive compounds. More recently, with the high need for sustainable alternatives in the agricultural sector, seaweed extracts have been explored as a potential alternative to ensure food quality and safety for present and future generations. However, the use of these extracts poses several concerns regarding characterization, mode of application, optimal plant stage to apply, effective concentration, effects on microbiota, and on environment over time. In this context, this project aimed to develop a pipeline to assess the effects of a red seaweed extract, Gracilaria gracilis, on tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum).(...)"engGracilaria gracilisseaweed extractsculturable microbiotabiostimulantsmaster thesis203518675