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Melatonin: A versatile tool for sustaining agricultural productivity and improving food security
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  • Evgenios Agathokleous,
  • Boya Zhou,
  • Jianing Xu,
  • Andreas Ioannou,
  • Zhaozhong Feng,
  • Costas Saitanis,
  • Michael Frei,
  • Edward Calabrese,
  • Vasileios Fotopoulos
Evgenios Agathokleous
Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology

Corresponding Author:evgenios@nuist.edu.cn

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Boya Zhou
Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology
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Jianing Xu
Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology
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Andreas Ioannou
Cyprus University of Technology
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Zhaozhong Feng
Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology
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Costas Saitanis
Agricultural University of Athens
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Michael Frei
Justus Liebig Universitat Giessen
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Edward Calabrese
University of Massachusetts Amherst
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Vasileios Fotopoulos
Cyprus University of Technology
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Abstract

Melatonin is produced by plants, algae, and animals. Worldwide studies show diverse positive effects of exogenous melatonin on plants, edible plant products, and algae, but the potential of melatonin to enhance food and feed systems through these positive effects remains largely unexplored. Through a meta-analysis of about 25,000 observations, we show that exogenous application of melatonin significantly increases crop productivity and yields, and enhances the nutritional and nutraceutical value of edible plant products and algae by regulating diverse biological functions. Melatonin can improve plants, edible plant products, and algae under various current climate change scenarios, environmental pollution factors, and other stresses by about 7% to nearly 30%, on average, depending on the stressor. We also analyze various technical/methodological factors influencing the desired outcomes and identify conditions that offer optimal enhancement. This study offers a scientific and technical roadmap facilitating sustainable food and feed production through the application of exogenous melatonin.
Sep 2021Published in Environmental Research volume 200 on pages 111746. 10.1016/j.envres.2021.111746