Carbonate-Substituted Hydroxyapatite Carrier for Plant Nutrient Delivery
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for delivering vegetal extracts and nutritional elements to plants are inefficient, leading to suboptimal bioavailability and requiring high doses, which are economically valuable and not effectively addressing plant health and disease prevention.
Innovation Solution
The use of carbonate-substituted hydroxyapatite as a carrier for bioactive substances, including metal ions and vegetal extracts, which penetrates plants through natural openings, enhancing solubility and bioavailability, allowing for lower doses and improved phytosanitary and nutritional treatments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If high doses of vegetal extracts and nutritional elements are applied to plants, then the plant health and disease prevention may be improved, but the economic cost increases and the bioavailability remains suboptimal
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses carbonate-substituted hydroxyapatite as a carrier substance that mediates the delivery of vegetal extracts and nutritional elements to plants. This carrier enhances bioavailability by facilitating uptake through natural plant openings, allowing reduced doses of the active substances while maintaining effective plant health protection.
2Reliability
If high doses of vegetal extracts are applied to ensure effective treatment, then the plant protection efficacy is improved, but the economic cost increases due to consumption of valuable substances
Solution Approach 1:
Carbonate-substituted hydroxyapatite serves as an intermediary carrier that improves the efficiency of vegetal extract delivery. By enhancing bioavailability and facilitating targeted delivery through natural plant openings, the system reduces the quantity of valuable vegetal extracts needed while maintaining effective disease prevention.
3Reliability
If conventional delivery methods are used for nutritional elements, then the application process is simple, but the bioavailability to plants is suboptimal
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces carbonate-substituted hydroxyapatite as a carrier intermediary that significantly enhances the bioavailability of nutritional elements. This carrier enables efficient uptake through natural plant openings, improving delivery effectiveness while maintaining relatively simple application procedures.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The carbonate-substituted hydroxyapatite effectively increases the bioavailability of bioactive substances, providing enhanced protection against plant pathogens and promoting healthy plant growth with reduced substance usage, demonstrated by improved treatment outcomes in laboratory and greenhouse tests.
Implementation Method 1
enhancing solubility and bioavailability
Implementation Method 2
which penetrates plants through natural openings
Implementation Method 3
Hydroxyapatite is well known in the prior art in different forms and for different applications... as a carrier of antimicrobial metal ion
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
The subject matter of the invention is a substituted hydroxyapatite carrier, responding to the formula: Ca(10-x)Mx(PO4)(6-y)(CO3)y(OH)2 in which: M is chosen from Cu, Mg, Zn, Pb, Cd, Ba, K, Mn, Mo, Fe, Ag, B, Se or a combination of at least two of such elements; - x is comprised between 0 and 2, preferably between 0 and 1, more preferably between 0 and 0.8, even more preferably between 0.02 and 0.05; - y is comprised between 0 and 2, preferably between 0 and 1, more preferably between 0.002 and 0.030, with the proviso that x and y are never equal to 0 at the same time. The substituted hydroxyapatite is a carrier of a bioactive substance chosen among a metal ion selected from Mn, Mg, K, Fe, B, Mo, Se and/o an extract of vegetal origin. The invention relates also to the use of the carrier for the delivery of such a bioactive substance to plants in order to achieve the phytosanitary and/or nutritional treatment of the plant.