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Analysis of institutional authors

Fernández VAuthor

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June 19, 2023
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Tomato and Pepper Leaf Parts Contribute Differently to the Absorption of Foliar-Applied Potassium Dihydrogen Phosphate

Publicated to: Plants-Basel. 12 (11): 2152- - 2023-05-29 12(11), DOI: 10.3390/plants12112152

Authors:

Henningsen, JN; Bahamonde, HA; Mühling, KH; Fernández, V
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Affiliations

Christian-Albrechts-Universitat zu Kiel - Author
Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestales, Universidad Nacional de La Plata - Author
Univ Kiel, Inst Plant Nutr & Soil Sci, Hermann Rodewald Str 2, D-24118 Kiel, Germany - Author
Univ Nacl La Plata, Fac Ciencias Agr & Forestales, Diagonal 113 N 469, RA-1900 La Plata, Argentina - Author
Univ Politecn Madrid, Sch Forest Engn, Syst & Nat Resources Dept, Madrid 28040, Spain - Author
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid - Author
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Abstract

Foliar fertilisation is an application technique that is increasingly being used in agriculture and offers the possibility of providing nutrients directly to the site of highest demand. Especially for phosphorus (P), foliar application is an interesting alternative to soil fertilisation, but foliar uptake mechanisms are poorly understood. To gain a better understanding of the importance of leaf surface features for foliar P uptake, we conducted a study with tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and pepper (Capsicum annuum) plants, which have different leaf surface traits. For this purpose, drops of 200 mM KH2PO4 without surfactant were applied onto the adaxial or abaxial leaf side or to the leaf veins and the rate of foliar P absorption was evaluated after one day. Additionally, leaf surfaces were characterised in detail by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), estimating also leaf surface wettability and free energy, among other parameters. While the leaves of pepper hardly contained any trichomes, the abaxial side and the leaf veins of tomato leaves were densely covered with trichomes. The cuticle of tomato leaves was thin (approximately 50 nm), while that of pepper was thick (approximately 150–200 nm) and impregnated with lignin. Due to the fact that trichomes were most abundant in the leaf veins of tomato, dry foliar fertiliser drop residues were observed to be anchored there, and the highest P uptake occurred via tomato leaf veins, resulting in 62% increased P concentration. However, in pepper, the highest rate of P absorption was recorded after abaxial-side P treatment (+66% P). Our results provide evidence that different leaf parts contribute unequally to the absorption of foliar-applied agrochemicals, which could potentially be useful for optimising foliar spray treatments in different crops.
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Keywords

cropscuticulafoliar absorptionleaf surfacepathwayspepperphosphorusphosphorus foliar spraysolutesstomatatranslocationtrichomesCuticulaFoliar absorptionLeaf surfacePepperPhosphorus foliar sprayPlant-surfacesStomataTomatoTrichomes

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Plants-Basel due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2023, it was in position 46/265, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Plant Sciences.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations provided by WoS (ESI, Clarivate), it yields a value for the citation normalization relative to the expected citation rate of: 2.9. This indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 13, 2025)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Weighted Average of Normalized Impact by the Scopus agency: 3.49 (source consulted: FECYT Mar 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2026-04-27, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 14
  • Scopus: 15
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Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2026-04-27:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 40.

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 9.
  • The number of mentions on the social network Facebook: 1 (Altmetric).
  • The number of mentions in news outlets: 1 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
  • Assignment of a Handle/URN as an identifier within the deposit in the Institutional Repository: https://oa.upm.es/85218/

As a result of the publication of the work in the institutional repository, statistical usage data has been obtained that reflects its impact. In terms of dissemination, we can state that, as of

  • Views: 137
  • Downloads: 108
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Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Argentina; Germany.

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: Last Author (FERNANDEZ FERNANDEZ, MARIA VICTORIA).

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