“…The present study demonstrated that the application of HA to tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant significantly reduced disease severity (Table 7). Numerous studies have reported that HA promotes plant growth either directly or indirectly by impacting soil microorganisms such as Pythium ultimum, Phytophthora capsici, and Fusarium oxysporum (Pascual et al, 2002;Litterick et al, 2004;Türkmen et al, 2005;Loffredo et al, 2008;Biçer, 2011;Halifeoğlu, 2011;Aslanpay and Demir, 2012;Gülser et al, 2014). According to these studies, the functional and chemical properties of humic substances (total acidity, COOH groupings, elemental composition) allow HA to control soil-borne fungi and inhibit the formation of micelles.…”