Excessive use of nitrogen fertilizer and inappropriate fertilization designs have negative results in agricultural ecosystems, such as considerable nitrogen losses through nitrogen dioxide (NO2) soil leaching and ammonia NH3 volatilization. In addition, climate change, with rising summer temperatures and reduced precipitation, leads to production declines and water shortages in the soil. This review aims to highlight the characteristics of natural zeolite and focus on their multiple uses in agriculture. These minerals are tectosilicates showing an open three-dimensional structure involving the cations required to balance the framework electrostatic charge of aluminum and silicon tetrahedral units. Different research groups reported more than fifty natural zeolites; chabazite, clinoptilolite, phillipsite, erionite, stilbite, heulandite, and mordenite are the most well-known. Zeolites are great tools to help the farmer and agronomist cope with several issues, such as soil or water pollution, contamination by heavy metals, loss of nutrients, and loss of water-use efficiency (WUE) of drylands. These natural crystalline aluminosilicates are considered soil conditioners to improve soil chemical and physical properties, such as saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks), infiltration rate, cation exchange capacity (CEC), and water-holding capacity (WHC). Owing to their properties, these materials are able to reduce nitrate leaching and ammonia volatilization. Zeolites are also known for their carrying capacity of slow-release macronutrients, micronutrients, and fertilizers. However, the potential of these materials in agricultural areas is apparent, and zeolites show the promise of contributing directly to improve agricultural ecosystems as a sustainable product.

Sustained tillage and continual applications of phytopharmaceutical and fertilizers using heavy machineries frequently give rise to soil erosion, loss of soil organic matter (SOM) and contamination phenomena in Mediterranean vineyards. Because of their distinctive properties, applying natural zeolites to vineyard soils can conceivably affect the efficient use of fertilizers and reduce nutrient leaching losses. This work assesses the impact of zeolite amendment at differing rates (0, 5 and 10 t/ha) on the chemical and biochemical soil properties of three vineyard soils after 6 months from initial treatments. In particular, chemical properties usually related to soil fertility were evaluated along with more sensitive indicators of soil functionality and indicators of chemical-structural characteristics of SOM. The vineyard soils amended with zeolite showed higher nutrient availability and dehydrogenase activity if compared with the control soils. In addition, even though total organic carbon (TOC) content was unchanged, a decrease in humic substances was observed in the zeolite-treated soils. These results suggested that the stimulation of soil microbial processes by adding zeolite triggered a microbial mineralization process of soil organic carbon stocks. In addition, the modification in the chemical-structural composition of soil organic matter in zeolite-treated soils was shown by the pyrolysis-gas chromatography (Py-GC) results. Py-CG of soil organic matter clearly demonstrated an increase in the labile aliphatic compound furfural and a decline in the more stable aromatic pyrolytic fragments in zeolite-treated soils in contrast with the control soils, thus indicating the higher extent of decomposition of the SOM more stable pool.

In the Mediterranea area, major effects of climate change are a modification in rainfall patterns, an increase in temperature with an intensify in tropical nights, and an increase in incoming radiations, especially UV-Bs. Despite the various adaptation strategies, grapevines are sensitive to altered climatic conditions. This paper aims to assess the benefits of applying a new sustainable product to the soil that can implement farmers’ resources to adapt to this changing situation. Zeowine was realized by combining the properties of zeolite, which has excellent potential in many sectors such as in agriculture, with the organic substance of a compost obtained on a company scale from the reuse of waste processing grapes, pomace and stalks. The effects of two different soil management (Z – Zeowine, 30 t/ha dose and C – Compost, 20 t/ha dose) on vine physiology and berry compositions in Sanforte grapevines (new plantation) were studied during the 2019–2020–2021 growing seasons in the San Miniato area, Italy. The following physiological parameters of grapevines were measured: leaf gas exchange, leaf temperature, stem water potential and chlorophyll fluorescence. The results showed that Z increased single leaf photosynthesis, reduced leaf temperature and water stress. In addition, phenolic and technological parameters were studied. The Z-treated vines had higher sugar content and total and extractable anthocyanin content as well as berry weight. These results suggested that the application of zeolites added to compost in the vineyard to the soil can be a valid tool to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Climate change and compostinS1g methods have an important junction on the phenological and ripening grapevine phases. Moreover, the optimization of these composting methods in closed-loop corporate chains can skillfully address the waste problem (pomace, stalks, and pruning residues) in viticultural areas. Owing to the ongoing global warming, in many wine-growing regions, there has been unbalanced ripening, with tricky harvests. Excessive temperatures in fact impoverish the anthocyanin amount of the must while the serious water deficits do not allow a correct development of the berry, stopping its growth processes. This experiment was created to improve the soil management and the quality of the grapes, through the application of a new land conditioner (Zeowine) to the soil, derived from the compost processes of industrial wine, waste, and zeolite. Three treatments on a Sangiovese vineyard were conducted: Zeowine (ZW) (30 tons per ha), Zeolite (Z) (10 tons per ha), and Compost (C) (20 tons per ha). During the two seasons (2021–2022), measurements were made of single-leaf gas exchange and leaf midday water potential, as well as chlorophyll fluorescence. In addition, the parameters of plant yield, yeast assimilable nitrogen, technological maturity, fractionation of anthocyanins (Cyanidin-3-glucoside, Delphinidin-3-glucoside, Malvidin-3-acetylglucoside, Malvidin-3-cumarylglucoside, Malvidin-3-glucoside, Peonidin-3-acetylglucoside, Peonidin-3-cumarylglucoside, Peonidin-3-glucoside, and Petunidin-3-glucoside), Caffeic Acid, Coumaric Acid, Gallic Acid, Ferulic Acid, Kaempferol-3-O-glucoside, Quercetin-3-O-rutinoside, Quercetin-3-O-glucoside, Quercetin-3-O-galactoside, and Quercetin-3-O-glucuronide were analyzed. The Zeowine and zeolite showed less negative water potential, higher photosynthesis, and lower leaf temperature. Furthermore, they showed higher levels of anthocyanin accumulation and a lower level of quercetin. Finally, the interaction of the beneficial results of Zeowine (soil and grapevines) was evidenced by the embellishment of the nutritional and water efficiency, the minimizing of the need for fertilizers, the closure of the production cycle of waste material from the supply chain, and the improvement of the quality of the wines.

Sediments remediated with a nature-based solution approach (NBS-sediments) can represent a suitable and affordable alternative to peat as a constituent of growing media for ornamental plant production based on the combination of advanced production efficiency and rational green use of resources, including peat and water. In a greenhouse experiment, the effect of different growing media containing NBS-remediated sediments on two-year-old container grown cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus cv. ‘Novìta’) under standard and induced restrictive irrigation was evaluated. Six ternary mixes with different proportion (45:30:25 and 30:20:50 v/v) of peat:pumice:sediment (PE:TS25, PE:TS50), coconut fiber:pumice:sediment (CF:TS25, CF:TS50) and wood fiber:pumice:sediment (WF:TS25, WF:TS50) were tested in comparison to the standard peat:pumice blend (60:40 v/v), commonly used for pot ornamental crops ad used as control (PE, control). Pots were drip irrigated with 200 and 250 cc daily water volume (DWV). Cherry laurels grown in the control showed the lowest sign of stress, maintaining the highest net CO2 assimilation and transpiration rates, however stomatal conductance was reduced compared to PE:TS mixes. On the other hand, photosynthetic performance was strongly depressed by WF:TS25 and WF:TS50 under reduced DWV compared to the control, due to the combined effect of physical properties of the used matrices and reduced water availability. Nevertheless, final biomass production of plants grown on sediment-based growing media was similar to that of control, indicating that photosynthetic performance of plants fully recovered during the cultivation period. Differences in final plant development were negligible when compared to quality standards of marketing categories. Thus, appropriately blended NBS-sediment-based growing media can be used on a larger scale to produce rustic outdoor ornamentals.