Wood Distillate as a Solution for Growing Crops Under Water Deficiency

first_pagesettingsOrder Article Reprints Open AccessArticle Wood Distillate as a Solution for Growing Crops Under Water Deficiency by Riccardo Fedeli 1,*ORCID,Zhanna Zhatkanbayeva 2 andStefano Loppi 1,3ORCID 1 BioAgry Lab, Department of Life Sciences, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy 2 Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Astana 010000, Kazakhstan 3 NBFC, National Biodiversity Future Center, 90121 Palermo, Italy * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Crops 2025, 5(2), 22; https://doi.org/10.3390/crops5020022 Submission received: 20 February 2025 / Revised: 28 March 2025 / Accepted: 8 April 2025 / Published: 11 April 2025 Downloadkeyboard_arrow_down Browse Figures Versions Notes Abstract This study investigated if the foliar application of wood distillate (WD, a by-product of biomass pyrolysis, containing bioactive compounds, including organic acids and phenols) influences some key parameters (fresh weight, photosynthetic efficiency, antioxidant compounds, stress-related biochemical markers, and mineral content) of basil plants, used as a model crop, grown under water-limited conditions. The experimental setup included control and WD treatments (applied via foliar application at 0.2%) under three drought levels: no stress, moderate, and high stress. The results indicated that the application of WD contributed to improving the fresh weight, chlorophyll, reduced oxidative stress, and stable levels of essential nutrients across varying drought intensities. These outcomes highlight the potential of WD as an effective biostimulant for enhancing drought tolerance in basil plants under water deficiency.