Effect of Plant Biostimulants on Nutritional and Chemical Profiles of Almond and Hazelnut
, Filipa S. Reis 1,*, Lillian Barros 1, Manuel Ângelo Rodrigues 1, Carlos M. Correia 3, Admilson L. Vieira 2, Isabel C. F. R. Ferreira 1 and João C. M. Barreira 1,*Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
This article reported the effect of plant biostimulants on nutritional and chemical profiles of almond and hazelnut. In the era of sustainable agriculture, such research is very much needed. Generally, this article is interested, carefully and well written, but still one modification are needed:
page 2, lines from 86 to 93 - this paragraph should not be included in the Materials and Methods only in the Introduction.
Author Response
Thank you for your positive feedback. The modification was carried out as requested.
Please see the attachment.
Reviewer 2 Report
The topic of the manuscript is interesting and very actual. Anyway, before publication, it should be improved. Authors analysed just fatty acido profile and tocopherol after treatment of almonds and hazelnuts with biostimulants. A more complete analysis of the components should be performed. Moreover, Authors should report the composition of phytoalgae extract.
Author Response
Thank you very much for your comments and suggestions. We really appreciate them, as we appreciate your efforts in reviewing this article. We understand the logic that sustains your position. Indeed, general conclusions can only be drawn after evaluating the contributions of all the variability factors. However, it is also true that analyzing different factors can make it challenging to understand the influence of a single factor per se. There is a lot to be studied: additional species of nuts, different locations, different irrigation systems, different tree densities, among others, as further analysis could be done in the fruits. However, this first assay is essentially preliminary (as highlighted throughout the manuscript), and the study was primarily designed to pave the way for further investigation. We decided to focus our study essentially on nutritional parameters (nutritional value, sugars, fatty acids and vitamins, namely vitamin E), as we believe that these would be the most critical parameters when evaluating the fruit's quality depending on the biostimulant used. In addition, comparative statistical tests like ANOVA, loose effectiveness when testing two or more factors, mainly due to the high probability of their interaction; when two given factors interact significantly, it is not possible to infer unequivocal conclusions for each single factor.
The composition of the phytoalgae extract is 100% Ascophyllum nodosum.
Reviewer 3 Report
This study presents an interesting approach appied biostimulants to improve hazelnut and almond quality and nutritional value. Some parts should be corrected/improved:
- Lines 86-93 should be moved to Intoduction.
- Tables - to indicate statistical differences please use superscript, for all SD values please present at least one decimal place.
- References section - please unify style, please use italics for latin names,
Author Response
Please see the attachment
Author Response File: 
Author Response.docx
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
Authors have improved the manuscript and now it is suitable for publication.
