iScience
Volume 25, Issue 7, 15 July 2022, 104636
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Perspective
Establishing a quality management framework for commercial inoculants containing arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2022.104636Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • Inoculants containing AMF are a potential tool for sustainable agriculture

  • Their use is limited by inconsistent product efficacy

  • We propose a quality framework to improve the quality of these inoculants

  • This framework consists of required quality criteria and a standardized bioassay

Summary

Microbial inoculants containing arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are potential tools in increasing the sustainability of our food production systems. Given the demand for sustainable agriculture, the production of such inoculants has potential economic value and has resulted in a variety of commercial inoculants currently being advertised. However, their use is limited by inconsistent product efficacy and lack of consumer confidence. Here, we propose a framework that can be used to assess the quality and reliability of AM inoculants. First, we set out a range of basic quality criteria which are required to achieve reliable inoculants. This is followed by a standardized bioassay which can be used to test inoculum viability and efficacy under controlled conditions. Implementation of these measurements would contribute to the adoption of AM inoculants by producers with the potential to increase sustainability in food production systems.

Subject areas

Environmental science
Environmental health
Biological sciences
Biotechnology
Plant biology
Interaction of plants with organisms
Plant nutrition

Cited by (0)

18

These authors contributed equally