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Green waste biochar and plant growth-promoting bacteria enhance tomato growth under combined nutrient deficiency and salinity stress

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Abstract

This study characterized a green-waste-derived biochar from date palms and ghaf trees and investigated its potential as a soil amendment with halotolerant Bacillus spp. to improve tomato seedling quality under dual stress of salinity and nutrient deficiency. Biochar was produced through pyrolysis at 450 °C and then characterized for yield, pH, electrical conductivity, proximate analysis, surface morphology, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and heavy-metal content. Its effectiveness was tested both alone and in combination with a Bacillus sp. mix, using a completely randomized design with varying NPK fertilizer levels and saline irrigation. Tomato seedlings were evaluated 45 days after planting for various vegetative, morphological, physiological, and nutrient content indicators. Under normal conditions, applying biochar combined with a Bacillus mix at 0% NPK greatly enhanced all measured parameters, often exceeding values observed with 100% NPK fertilization. This approach was especially effective under saline irrigation, resulting in significant increases in morphological parameters (40–150%), physiological parameters (51–94%), and nutrient content (34–63%) compared to control plants that received 100% NPK. Additionally, this treatment resulted in a 42% decrease in sodium accumulation. Using the biochar with the Bacillus mix effectively replaces chemical fertilizers and enhances salinity tolerance, supporting sustainable farming through waste recycling and less dependence on fertilizers.

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Data availability

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We disclose support for the research of this work from Zayed University Research Incentive Fund (RIF) , project grant number 23075. We acknowledge Zayed University laboratory support staff, Naman Arora, Pramod Kumbhar, Anil Menezes, and Fatma Al Ali, for logistics support for sample processing at Zayed University instrumentation lab (Dubai) and for Phenospex (PlantEye F500), SEM, and EDX analysis (Abu Dhabi).

Funding

This research was financially supported by the Zayed University Research Incentive Fund (RIF), Project No. 23075.

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  1. Department of Environmental Sciences and Sustainability, College of Natural and Health Sciences, Zayed University, PO Box 19282, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Soumaya Tounsi-Hammami, Munawwar Ali Khan, Mahra Alqemzi, Salama Ali Almehairi & Aneesa Rasheed Anwar

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  1. Soumaya Tounsi-Hammami
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Contributions

Soumaya Tounsi-Hammami: methodology, investigation, statistical analysis, writing-original draft preparation, review, and editing. Munawwar Ali Khan: Project administration, review, editing, and validation. Mahra Alqemzi: formal analysis, investigation. Salama Ali Almehairi: formal analysis, investigation. Aneesa Rasheed Anwar: formal analysis, investigation. All the authors have read, reviewed, edited, and agreed to publish this version of the manuscript.

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Tounsi-Hammami, S., Khan, M.A., Alqemzi, M. et al. Green waste biochar and plant growth-promoting bacteria enhance tomato growth under combined nutrient deficiency and salinity stress.
Sci Rep (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-32140-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-32140-5

Keywords

  • Tomato seedlings
  • Sustainability
  • Chemical fertilization

  • Bacillus mix
  • Salinity

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