Codependence : the influence of targeted soil inoculation on vegetative growth, chemical composition, and fruit fermentation

Abstract

In order to ensure food security for the steadily increasing population, intensive, carefully managed agricultural practices are a necessity. In an attempt to increase crop yields, mineral and organic fertilizers have been excessively and incorrectly applied, resulting in problems for the neighbouring water systems. To avoid the environmental damages associated with excessive fertilizer application, other means of nutrient recycling and retention have been investigated. Biochar, a porous pyrogenic material, has been introduced to soil systems and has improved both the physical and chemical properties of the soil. Soil inoculation, or the addition of plant growth promoting bacteria, has been utilized with species specific results. The successful combination of these two techniques has produced a biochar-microbial composite that has been applied to the soil with varying results on the vegetative growth of plants. An investigation into the volatile impact of the inoculation revealed that the volatile profile of marigold shoots changed, while the nitrogen uptake by a given plant was decreased or unaffected, depending on the plant species. In order to predict how these bacterial strains might behave in a fermentation environment, wine was co-fermented with yeast and bacteria. Common and predictable differences were observed in the LC-MS profiles of red and white wine when a bacterial strain was introduced to the fermentation.