Science & Sustainability

Ascophyllum nodosum — The Key to Sustainable Agriculture

A COMPLEX MIX OF COMPOUNDS PRODUCING A VARIETY OF BENEFICIAL PLANT RESPONSES.

  • Improves plant establishment, development and growth —  Improves root initiation, elongation, and branching, leading to improved plant establishment and greater uptake of water and nutrients.
  • Maximizes crop potential during stress conditions —  Activates antioxidant production and increases water retention, which reduces the impact of environmental stresses including drought, salinity, heat, and chill.
  • Improves plant nutrient uptake — Containing natural chelators that bind to micronutrients, improves the bioavailability and transport of nutrients within the plant.
  • Improves crop size and uniformity — Improves photosynthesis for greater plant productivity by increasing chlorophyll production within the plant
  • Enhances yield — helps plants produce energy. Its components act as precursors that encourage plants to produce new active compounds, which in turn boost crop quality and yield.

TECHNOLOGY

Acadian Plant Health™ extracts promote the synthesis of natural compounds (eg., polyamines, betaines and proline) that protect against cellular damage from environmental stresses and improve plant growth and development.

ORGANIC ACIDS

Organic acids serve as a source of energy production as well as precursors for many organic compounds.

BETAINES

Unique plant metabolites that are produced under stress to protect and prevent damage during numerous abiotic stresses.

AMINO ACIDS

Building blocks of proteins, they contribute to plant metabolism and other functions.

MANNITOL

An osmoprotectant and micronutrient chelator, it helps with cell water retention and nutrient mobility.

OLIGIOSACCHARIDES

Elicitors of plant defense mechanisms that promote plant health and strengthening.

ALGINIC ACID

Mineral chelator that aids in nutrient availability and as a microbial feedstock.

FUCOSE-CONTAINING POLYSACCHARIDES (FCPS)

FCPs have been implicated in increased antioxidant and stress protection capabilities.

MICRONUTRIENTS

Derived from the fresh Ascophyllum, they are present as organically chelated forms, making them more available to plants.

ASCO TOUGH

Ascophyllum nodosum (also known as rockweed) lives exclusively in the cold, harsh conditions of the North Atlantic Ocean. Ascophyllum has evolved to survive in the intertidal zone by producing compounds that help alleviate the abiotic stresses it encounters in this unforgiving environment.

COMMITTED TO SUSTAINABILITY

The Acadian Plant Health team harvests only the top portion of the plant, leaving the entire holdfast intact and allowing for rapid biomass regeneration.

  • Peer-reviewed scientific studies have shown this management model is sustainable and causes no long-term environmental impacts.
  • Acadian Plant Health has been commercially harvesting Ascophyllum nodosum for more than 40 years using these principles with no impact on seaweed biomass.

OUR PROCESS

Using an automated, PLC-controlled alkaline extraction process, Acadian Plant Health extracts are demonstrated to be consistent and unique.

  • In the proprietary extraction process, the Ascophyllum cells are ruptured, allowing beneficial natural compounds to move into the extract.
  • Chemical reactions also occur, converting some of structural components of the alga into soluble compounds.
  • The recipe is adjusted seasonally to balance the extraction process and produce a consistent mixture of bioactive compounds.
  • Quality management fully monitors this process, from inspection of the starting raw material to packaging of the final products.

CONSISTENCY

  • Acadian Plant Health has used NMR-based metabolomic profiling to outline the chemical consistency of our Ascophyllum extracts. Regardless of where the alga is harvested or the season in which it is produced, Acadian Plant Health extracts are remarkably consistent, showing many of the compounds in the extract are not simply extracted from the seaweed, but instead created during the proprietary extraction process.
  • This metabolomic profiling can also be used to show chemical differences with competitor seaweed extracts, which have different chemical compositions and may perform differently than Acadian Plant Health extracts.

THE SECRET TO SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION

Acadian Plant Health extracts are not an individual active compound. Instead, they are a mixture of multiple metabolically active compounds derived from the Ascophyllum nodosum and the alkaline extraction process.

  • Some of these compounds are known to promote root growth and structure as well as plant establishment. Others have been shown to enhance plants effects to abiotic stresses.
  • These compounds will have different effects on crops depending on how and when they are applied and what physiological state the plant is under.