Yield improvement, grain mineral accumulation, and lipidome alteration in Triticum durum following Nannochloropsis gaditana and Isochrysis galbana application

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Introduction Marine microalgae are emerging as sustainable biostimulant resources; however, species-dependent agronomic outcomes and the associated biochemical changes in cereals remain poorly understood, particularly at the seed metabolome level. Methods In this study, we compared two metabolically distinct marine microalgae, Isochrysis galbana (Haptophyta) and Nannochloropsis gaditana (Eustigmatophyta), as enzyme-assisted extracts applied to durum wheat ( Triticum durum ) to link performance with grain composition and GC–MS seed metabolomics. Results I. galbana primarily enhanced productivity, increasing grain number (+40%), grain weight (+26%), flour yield (+25%), and elevating Mn (+156%) and Ca (+14%). In contrast, N. gaditana promoted quality-related traits, improving ear density (+10%), flour protein (+5%), and total lipids (+177%), while showing a 3.4-fold increase in polyunsaturated fatty acids, increasing Zn (+13%), and reducing Na (–12%). Yield gains were associated with decreased thousand-kernel weight, consistent with a shift towards higher grain set with smaller kernels, while SDS sedimentation remained unchanged, indicating preserved gluten strength. Multivariate trait integration revealed distinct statistical association patterns: variables related to yield components were predominantly co-associated with I. galbana treatment, whereas compositional and antioxidant-related variables were predominantly co-associated with N. gaditana treatment. Metabolomic profiling supported these functional differences, revealing enhanced amino acid and sugar metabolism under I. galbana and putative lipid/redox-associated pathways under N. gaditana . Discussion Collectively, these preliminary results suggest that microalgal biostimulation in durum wheat may be strongly species-specific, with seed metabolomic profiles providing integrative biochemical signatures consistent with distinct treatment effects. These observations, derived from a single growing season at one location with one cultivar, warrant multi-season and multi-location validation before species-specific biostimulant strategies can be proposed for cereal production systems.

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