{"id":198,"date":"2024-01-14T13:50:55","date_gmt":"2024-01-14T17:50:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sta.uwi.edu\/principal\/?p=198"},"modified":"2025-06-12T13:47:44","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T17:47:44","slug":"uwi-scientists-speak-january-14th-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sta.uwi.edu\/principal\/uwi-scientists-speak-january-14th-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Treasure from Trash: UWI-Researchers\u2019 Success in Developing High-Value Phytostimulants from Sargassum Seaweed by Professor Jayaraj Jayaraman, Mr Omar Ali and Professor Adesh Ramsubhag"},"content":{"rendered":"

The brown algal seaweed Sargassum<\/em> spp. multiply rapidly and form dense free-floating rafts on the ocean\u2019s surface. Due to climate change and pollution, there has been rampant proliferation of this seaweed in recent times which is adversely affecting the Caribbean region. The large amounts of seaweed biomass that wash up on the shores every year pose a major challenge for the hotel and tourism sectors. It takes significant resources to clear the Sargassum off beaches and in most cases, the biomass is left to rot. \u00a0Decomposing sargassum is not only an eyesore to visitors to the beach, but it also releases hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, which can have serious health effects on humans, animals, and the ecosystem. The best strategy for dealing with the Sargassum problem is to find suitable uses for the biomass as a raw material for industries. Research going on around the world on developing value-added products from Sargassum have not yielded much transformation from laboratories to industries.<\/p>\n

A team of researchers at the UWI-St. Augustine\u2019s Department of Life Sciences has been working on the Caribbean seaweeds for more than a decade, particularly to examine their plant biostimulatory properties. The team\u2019s focus shifted to Sargassum since this seaweed became a problem about 6 years ago. The team comprising of Prof Jayaraj Jayaraman (PI), Prof Adesh Ramsubhag (coPI), and Omar Ali (PhD student), along with several students have been leading the research on Sargassum valorization. They developed eco-friendly and energy-efficient methods of extracting biostimulant molecules from the dried-seaweed-biomass. The extraction methods yield a combination of bioactive molecules that are very assimilable to plants, but also safe for the environment. This team\u2019s overall aim is to minimize the use of agrochemicals in farming and substitute them with safe biological inputs. The stable Sargassum-extract-based formulation developed will provide farmers with a good option as an organic-based biostimulant for reducing the need for synthetic chemicals.<\/p>\n

The studies thus far revealed multiple beneficial effects of the Sargassum extracts and formulations on plants and the ecosystem. The extracts contain several miracle molecules that act as triggers for enhancing plant growth and defense against pests and diseases and promoting tolerance to abiotic stress conditions. Crops treated with Sargassum extracts in the field gave 50-70% higher yield on average as compared to controls. The quality of the produce also improved e.g., bigger fruits, better nutritional contents, less post-harvest damage, and improved market quality. To reveal the mechanisms of action of the extracts, the team employed contemporary cutting-edge gene expression studies that interestingly showed upregulation of multiple pathways involved in plant metabolic processes in a synchronous and harmonic fashion that contributed to increased growth and productivity, disease suppression and resilience to abiotic stress. Several genes responsible for flowering were also up-regulated for a longer duration which explains the higher rate of flowering, flower-fruit number, and extended productive phase of Sargassum extract-treated plants.\u00a0 Under field conditions, the damage caused by diseases, including those by viruses, was reduced by at least 50% through foliar sprays with Sargassum extract every two weeks. On a practical basis, the team demonstrated higher yields with minimum application of generic pesticides while using Sargassum extract and other biological inputs in a successful integrated pest and disease management system. By including the sargassum extract formulation in the spray schedule, it was possible to reduce fungicide application frequency by more than 50%, while achieving better yields.<\/p>\n

One hidden phenomenon that is often overlooked is the impact of biological inputs on the plant and soil microbial communities, which play a major role in conditioning plant growth and maintaining equilibrium with the ecosystem. The team\u2019s exciting results have confirmed the positive effects of the Sargassum extracts on enhancing the activity of beneficial microorganisms, both internally and on the plant\u2019s external surfaces.<\/p>\n

The stable formulation developed by the UWI researchers is currently in the final stages of evaluation towards commercialization. They have also initiated research using bulk Sargassum biomass for developing enriched composts and bioactivated manures with acceptable levels of heavy metals. Most of the studies have been with vegetable crops but work has now started with tubers, grains, and fruit crops. The team\u2019s research on seaweed extracts has been well-published and well-cited within the scientific community. Consequently, they are a leading group in the Caribbean and South America on seaweed bioelicitor research and were able to successfully collaborate with researchers around the world. Recently they have developed partnerships through the France\/EDF-funded INTERREG-SARGOOD project which facilitated research collaboration in the region.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Sargassum valorization team: Professor Jayaraj Jayaraman, Mr Omar Ali (PhD candidate) and Professor Adesh Ramsubhag.<\/p><\/div>\n

Professor Jayaraman joined The UWI St Augustine in 2009 and was installed as a full Professor of Biotechnology and Plant-Microbiology at the Department of Life Sciences, UWI St Augustine in 2014. His research area spans the fields of sustainable agriculture, plant pathology, plant microbiology and biotechnology.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The brown algal seaweed Sargassum spp. multiply rapidly and form dense free-floating rafts on the ocean\u2019s surface. Due to climate change and pollution, there has been rampant proliferation of this seaweed in recent times which is adversely affecting the Caribbean region. The large amounts of seaweed biomass that wash up on the shores every year […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1114,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-uwi-scientists-speaks"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nTreasure from Trash: UWI-Researchers\u2019 Success in Developing High-Value Phytostimulants from Sargassum Seaweed by Professor Jayaraj Jayaraman, Mr Omar Ali and Professor Adesh Ramsubhag - Office of the Campus Principal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sta.uwi.edu\/principal\/uwi-scientists-speak-january-14th-2024\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Treasure from Trash: UWI-Researchers\u2019 Success in Developing High-Value Phytostimulants from Sargassum Seaweed by Professor Jayaraj Jayaraman, Mr Omar Ali and Professor Adesh Ramsubhag - Office of the Campus Principal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The brown algal seaweed Sargassum spp. multiply rapidly and form dense free-floating rafts on the ocean\u2019s surface. 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