Hydrogen Biology Research Center

Hydrogen Driven Agriculture Production And Soil Improvement

Hydrogen Driven Agriculture Production And Soil Improvement

At the heart of the action of molecular hydrogen (H2) in biology are the mitochondria. In all higher organism cells, that is, plant cells, animal cells or fungi, the mitochondria provide the energy necessary for life in the form of Adenosine triphosphate (ATP). However, the role of ATP goes beyond a simple energy source; ATP also increases the thermal stability of proteins and promotes their correct folding. Protein stability and proper protein folding are central to biological function and thus to the continuation of life. Environmental stress, being abiotic (e.g. heat stress, UV stress) or biotic (e.g. pathogens), translates into protein denaturation and protein misfolding that need to be addressed by the organism.

Increasing ATP availability due to H2 supplementation, significantly elevates the threshold at which abiotic and biotic stress can affect an organism. Consequently, the same stress level that would have normally stunted the organism’s growth or indeed its survival potential, does not eventuate. Given the worlds environment and climate change potential in the coming years, along with the increasing f requency of extreme weather events, any factor that would increase organism resilience should be investigated. In this regard, Molecular Hydrogen and Oxygen supplementation offers enormous potential and should be brought to the forefront of our thinking about agriculture and food production.

Here we provide a summary of what is currently known to introduce the immense potential offered by supplementing food production systems with Oxy-hydrogen. There are many sub-categories within this enormous field, and we will further develop these specific areas as interest dictates.

 

Soil Fertility and Hydroxygen

It has been known for a long time that proper oxygenation of the soil is a critical factor in plant growth (e.g. 1,2). In contrast, Hydrogen gas (H2) is only now attracting the increased attention it deserves3. Hydrogen gas has been found to alleviate abiotic stress in plants such as high salinity4, drought5, UV radiation6 and heavy metal7,8, while increasing growth and yield under stress. For example, soil treatment with H29 improved growth of Barley, Canola, Wheat and Soybean, including a dry weight increase of between 15-48% and tiller head number increase of 36 to 48% compared to control.

Hydrogen supplementation has also shown important benefits in the horticulture industry 10. For example, using hydrogen nanobubble enriched water improves the yield, taste and quality of cherry tomato, with and without fertiliser 11. Researchers compared four conditions with and without fertiliser and irrigated using standard water, or water infused with hydrogen nanobubbles. Without fertiliser, the use of water infused with hydrogen gas nanobubbles resulted in a yield increase of 39.7%, while with fertiliser use alone, the yield increase was 26.5%. Interestingly, the use of water infused with hydrogen gas without the use of fertiliser still translated to a 9.1% yield increase, compared to the group with fertiliser and standard water. Most importantly, the use of hydrogen nanobubbles also significantly improved the quality of the crop in terms of nutrient content and taste.

Li et al. observed a significant increase in sugar-acid ratio, and increased content in antioxidants such as lycopene 11. The use of hydrogen-rich water also resulted in a substantial increase in volatile compounds and aldehydes 11. Most notably, the application of hydrogen-rich water enhanced the crop absorption of available nitrogen and phosphorous by more than 70-80%, and potassium by more than 50%, irrespective of the use of fertilizer 11.

Finally, while Hydrogen water post-harvest treatment decreased the accumulation of nitrite in stored tomatoes 12, in strawberries, the preharvest use of hydrogen nanobubble enriched water enhanced the volatile profiles, sugar-acid ratio, and sensory attributes of the crop with and without fertiliser 13. The increased production of secondary metabolites is under the control of H26,14. When the plant is supplemented with H2 secondary metabolites such as flavonoids are produced in greater quantities6,11,14, while decreasing oxidative stress and increasing mitochondrial ATP production.

 

Hydrogen can also indirectly enhance the plant’s resistance to stress by affecting soil microbial composition. For instance, Hydrogen gas has been demonstrated to promote the recruitment of beneficial rhizosphere aerobic beta-proteobacteria Variovorax paradoxus, that is responsible for soil regeneration following crop rotation with legumes15 (such as soybean or turnip). The Variovorax paradoxus strain has been demonstrated themselves to also protect plants from abiotic stress16, improving growth 17,18 and yield. Furthermore, V. paradoxus is known to metabolise residual pesticides19 and herbicides20 in soils, improving soil condition. Interestingly, after 7-8 days H2 gas treatment of soil, the soil starts fixating CO2 and not releasing it to the atmosphere, but taking it from the atmosphere and fixating it in the soil21. Grain planted soils are net producers of CO2 (10 million tonnes CO2-e annually in Australia). This research suggests that treatment with oxy-hydrogen enriched water may reverse this trend by increasing root system mass and increasing soil CO2 fixation, creating a carbon sink.

In summary, oxygen-rich soil improves plant health and yield by itself. Hydrogen gas in itself improves abiotic plant stress response and yield. Variovorax paradoxus in itself promotes plant health, growth and combats plant pathogens. Finally, Hydrogen gas promotes the development of Hydrogen-oxidating aerobe Variovorax paradoxus in soil and promotes CO2 fixation in soil. Thus, providing oxy-hydrogen to both the crop and soil in the form of nano-bubble enriched water, or directly in gaseous form in the soil, improves soil fertility9, crop health, growth and yield. Given the potential economic benefit, the relative ease, and the low cost of the approach, the time to act with large scale field trials is now. The Australian trial of crop supplementation with H2 using subterranean gas pipe by CSIRO[1] (2003 – 2007) has shown yield improvement of up to 31%. However, this delivery system using compressed gas and subterranean pipes is not economically viable. Since this time, there are now practical and financially viable options have been developed and large-scale commercial applications are now possible.

The Action of Molecular Hydrogen on the Respiratory Chain

It has recently been demonstrated that H2 supplementation suppressed superoxide production22 by complex I, its main producer. Furthermore, Ishihara et al. suggested that H2 donated electrons in the Q chamber of complex I22. Two main mechanisms are possible but given that Hydrogen evolution (the production of H2 from two protons) by complex I in plants have recently been discovered23, the most likely is that complex I acts as an oxygen insensitive hydrogenase capable of both using Hydrogen to reduce ubiquinone to ubiquinol, or to accept electrons from ubiquinol and evolve Hydrogen gas from two protons.

Regardless of how H2 participates in the respiratory chain, it is demonstrated that H2 supplementation translates into a more than 50% per min increase in ATP production by the mitochondria24. An increase that appears to be a least partially to be uncoupled from nutrient intake.

An increase in ATP production by the mitochondria, following H2 supplementation, means that cells can divert the nutrients not used to produce energy, to the production of the building blocks of the cell. This explains why crops supplemented with hydrogen can invest more energy into growth and production.

Mitochondrial ATP Production and ER Stress

Abiotic and biotic stress generate endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and trigger the unfolded protein response25,26. As described above molecular hydrogen supplementation in plants result in improved resistance to abiotic stress such as drought, salinity or heavy metal contamination.

Molecular Hydrogen supplementation also enables an increased mitochondrial ATP production while suppressing the production of superoxide by Complex 1. Given that ATP is necessary for the appropriate folding of proteins in the ER as a source of energy or as a co-factor 27, and given that it has been shown that ATP facilitates by itself the stability and proper folding of proteins as well as prevents the aggregation of misfolded proteins 28,29, we believe that the increased resistance to abiotic stress shown by plants supplemented with hydrogen is a direct consequence of an increased availability in mitochondrial ATP.

Rumen Fermentation Optimisation and Methane Emissions

Methane (CH4) has more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide over the first 20 years after it reaches the atmosphere. Since a cow can produce 400L to 500L of methane per day 30 and global ruminant emissions represent 15-16% 31,32 of total methane emission, there is high-level interest in significantly decreasing that amount. Methane is a by-product of the cows’ ingested food fermentation process that takes place in their digestive system. It is a fermentation pathway that is energetically wasteful, and alternative pathways are more favourable. It is possible to decrease cow methane emissions by manipulating the type of feed they have access to or by providing food additives that are counter to methane production however, these approaches can be costly or impractical.

Research suggests that elevating the dissolved concentration of hydrogen up to 100µM (0.2 ppm) may thermodynamically inhibit methanogenesis while favouring other pathways that produce compounds that can be assimilated by the animal and increase propionate production33,34, which is linked to better milk production and quality 35, while decreasing the energy loss experienced by the animal when methane is produced. The potential Hydrogen saturation level in water between 20 and 40C is 1.6 to 1.4 ppm and is 7 to 8 times more than the upper limit of hydrogen concentration that should inhibit methanogenesis in rumens.

It is expected that Hydrogen supplementation of cows in the form of hydrogen and oxygen rich water would significantly reduce the amount of methane emission while promoting a pathway that improves food absorption by the animal, increases immune system strength and increases the overall quality of the beast. It is interesting to note that adding the oxygen to the water could also stop methanogenesis 36 without affecting butyrate and propionate production which is important for milk quality.

Inflammation and Oxidative Stress

As it is known, Hydrogen supplementation decreases oxidative stress and decreases inflammation. It is important to remember that inflammation causes a redirection of nutrients from accretion in meat, milk and wool towards liver anabolism37 and thus represents a non-negligible economic cost. Thus, it is predicted that hydrogen supplementation, through drinking water for example, may improve meat, milk and wool production potential.

 

References:


https://grdc.com.au/research/reports/report?id=3618

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