Valuable applications for peat moss

Abstract

Peat is commonly known as a biofuel but it also has other more or less traditional uses, for example in folk medicine, building materials, or preservation of foods. Several studies suggest that the main composers of peat lands, Sphagnum mosses, may also have potential for a variety of other value-added products. Typically, those are related to the antibacterial and other preservative properties of Sphagnum, or to their high water adsorption ability. Molecular level applications, however, are still rarely reported. This might owe to the complex chemistry of Sphagnum and lacking costefficient technologies for the isolation of components of interest. In this literature survey, the structural and chemical properties of Sphagnum are reviewed together with their suggested uses. This is expected to facilitate new efforts to find commercially feasible applications for these extraordinary plants.

Discovering Penicillium polonicum with High-Lytic Capacity on Helianthus tuberosus Tubers: Oil-Based Preservation for Mold Management

“…This antimicrobial activity is possibly attributable to some of its bioactive components, such as sphagnan, a pectin-like polymer that inhibits microbial growth via electrostatic immobilization of extracellular enzymes and/or nitrogen deprivation, in addition to phenolics that inhibit the activity of extracellular enzymes of microbes, or other constituents such as sterols and polyacetylenes [ 57 ]. Peat moss has been approved as a storage medium; it has a relatively high-water retention capacity of up to 16–25 times its dry weight [ 58 ], providing a relatively low humidity around the tubers that blocks heat transfer within the peat moss, leading to decreases in water loss even during storage at 25 °C. However, dry matter content in JA tubers depends on many factors, such as storage conditions [ 59 ].…”

Ultraviolet absorbance of Sphagnum magellanicum, S. fallax and S. fuscum extracts with seasonal and species-specific variation

“…Additionally, plants use pigmentation to protect chlorophylls and DNA and it is usually achieved via anthocyanins, which are a form of flavonoids [20]. Sphagnum mosses have been shown to possess higher amounts of phenolic compounds than other bryophytes in general although the level is still low when in comparison with other plants [21]. The comparison of different studies is challenging because of different units in the determination of the phenolic content.…”

Effect of Essential Oils on Storability and Preservation of Some Vegetable Crops

“…Moreover, the activity of essential oils against may tend to reduce pathogenic fungi resistance reinforcement against chemical fungicide because they contain two or more stereo-isomers that may be located on multi-sites on the pathogen's plasma membrane. One of the valuable applications for peat moss is the traditional use in food preservation [14]. The antifungal effect of the use of peat mosses has been reported by many investigators against Aspergillus niger, A. flavus, Candida albicans, Cryptococcus albidus and Trichophyton rubrum [15].…”

“…Carvone had a specific tool for inhibition of sprout growth of potato tubers, such as the repression of key enzyme in the mevalonate acid pathway, which is the main precursor of gibberellin biosynthesis [17]. On the other hand, peat moss has a relatively high water retention capacity; their cells can hold 16-25 times their dry weight of water [14]. This in turns encourages such amendment for its use in the preservation of JA tubers by increasing a relative humidity around the tubers and preventing heat transfer within the peat moss layer leading to the decrease of the water loss from fresh tubers depends on the difference between the water vapor pressure within the tubers and the water vapor pressure of the surrounding air, with moisture passing from the higher pressure to the lower even at 25°C.…”