生物刺激素(biostimulants)非肥料亦非農藥(但部分屬農藥中的不列管農藥),為天然材料不傷害環境,僅影響農作物本身,主要可分成七類:腐植酸類物質(humic and fulvic acids)、蛋白質水解產物和其他含氮化合物(protein hydrolysates and other N-containing compounds)、海藻萃取物(seaweed extracts)、幾丁質(chitin)及其衍伸聚合物(biopolymers)、無機化合物(inorganic compounds)、有益真菌(beneficial fungi)和有益細菌(beneficial bacteria)等。施用生物刺激素,可使植物產生許多生理作用,如提高作物品質與增加產量;提高植物新陳代謝效率,包含促進營養同化作用與異化作用之能力;提高作物之肥料利用效率與增強藥劑防治效果、提高植物對生物、非生物逆境的耐受力,從逆境中快速恢復;調節和改善植物水分平衡;提高土壤的理化性質,促進土壤微生物的發育等。
Biostimulants are neither fertilizers nor pesticides(and are considered to be unclassified pesticides). These stimulants are natural materials and are not harmful to the environment. They only affects the crops themselves. Biostimulants can be divided into seven categories: humic and fulvic acids, protein hydrolysates and other N-containing compounds, seaweed extracts, chitins and their biopolymers, inorganic compounds, beneficial fungi, and beneficial bacteria. Biostimulants can cause many physiological effects in plants, such as improving crop quality and increasing yield; and improving plant metabolism efficiency, which includes the ability to promote nutrient assimilation and dissimilation. Such stimulantscan improve the fertilizer utilization efficiency of crops and enhance the effect of chemical control. Likewise, they help plants rapidly recover from stresses by increasing their tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses Moreover, biostimulants can regulate and improve the water balance of plants, improve the physical and chemical properties of the soil, promote the development of soil microorganism, etc.