Plant research
PLANT AND SOIL RESEARCH
Improving soil quality with coherent water
Soil bacteria - the plant’s external gut
During photosynthesis, plants produce their own sugars, which are later used for sustaining their growth and development. These growth spurts can be seen in the shape of new leaves, flowers, and fruits. But beyond what the naked eye can see, under the surface, another remarkable process is taking place.
As the plant grows deep into the earth, it starts releasing up to 40% of those sugars into the thin layer of soil that surrounds its roots. At a glance, this seems wasteful – but it’s actually brilliant. In that thin layer of soil, the sugars are taken up by bacteria, which in turn provide the plant with digestible forms of iron, phosphorus and nitrogen, as well as other essential minerals. The plant wouldn’t be able to extract these compounds from the soil on its own, so it entered a symbiotic relationship with bacteria, trading them sugar in exchange for digestible forms of much needed nutrients.
In many ways, soil bacteria are the plant’s extended gut, playing an equally crucial role in plant health as the gut microbiome plays in ours.
Coherent water boosts bacterial diversity
In 2021, we performed a study on cherry tomato plants watered for 4 months with regular or coherent water, and then analyzed the bacterial diversity of their soil. The analysis was performed using DNA sequencing, a state-of-the-art method for screening biological samples for presence of specific genes, called marker genes.
All DNA was first extracted from the soil, and then scanned for the presence of a marker gene commonly called 16S. By counting the number of copies of the 16S gene in a soil sample, we could essentially determine the number of different bacterial species present in that sample – a parameter described as bacterial diversity.
The study showed that bacterial diversity was significantly higher in the soil of plants watered with Aǹalemma water. This result was remarkable, especially owing to the fact that the soil used in the study was previously extensively treated with glyphosate, known to negatively affect soil bacteria.
Positive effects on the nitrogen cycle
Apart from bacterial diversity, we used the same soil samples to analyze their chemical composition. This revealed another striking difference in the soil watered with Aǹalemma water compared to regular water. Three parameters related to the nitrogen cycle were significantly altered, showing that the total levels of nitrogen in the soil increased, and that more of it has become available to plants.
This result can be linked back to soil microbes. While soil naturally contains sources of organic nitrogen, this nitrogen usually exists in inert forms that can’t be readily used by the plants. This is where bacteria come in. They convert inert nitrogen into nitrates and ammonia that the plant can break down as food and use to synthesize its own proteins.
Here, watering plants with Aǹalemma water resulted in increased bacterial diversity, and these bacterial communities seemed to have produced more available nitrogen. This process, known as mineralization, is vital for soil fertility, affecting all aspects of plant growth and, ultimately, food production.
The increase in bacterial diversity and the altered nitrogen cycle point toward an incredible effect of coherent water on soil fertility and productivity.
It’s incredible how something as simple as revitalized water can make such an important difference. This combination of simplicity and efficiency places Aǹalemma at the heart of the agricultural revolution our planet is calling for.
