A boron-zinc carrier for crop nutrition & stress

Feeding crops under stress, without over-dosing

Established, peer-reviewed plant science

Two well-documented facts frame this work. First, boron is essential for pollination and fertilization, required for pollen germination and pollen-tube growth, and so for fruit set. Second, vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) is a proven plant antioxidant and abiotic-stress protectant. A third, well-established point makes the problem concrete: boron travels with the transpiration stream and, in most crops, cannot be redistributed once it lands. When drought and heat lower transpiration, boron no longer reaches the tissues that need it most, the flowers and young fruit, and instead stays in the older leaves that are still losing moisture, where it becomes permanently locked. In most crops this is an irreversible loss rather than a delay: even after the stress lifts, boron cannot move on to the generative tissues. This is why flowers can drop even when a leaf analysis reads boron as sufficient.

The established science, cited

We separate what is peer-reviewed and established from our own hypothesis still under validation. Selected sources for the established science above:

• Brdar-Jokanović — boron deficiency & toxicity in plants, Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020
• Wang et al. — boron in pollen germination & tube growth, 2003
• Ca–B improving fruit set, Int. J. Fruit Sci. 2016
• Vanderschuren et al. — vitamin B6 as a plant stress protectant, Front. Plant Sci. 2013
• Titiz / Havaux — B6 and photo-oxidative stress, BMC Plant Biol. 2009
• Wilkinson & Davies — xylem pH as a drought signal, Plant Physiol. 1997
• Zn–phosphate interaction & chelate pH sensitivity (soil-science literature)

How our carrier answers each problem

On this foundation we designed a boron-zinc complex on a pyridoxine carrier, aimed at two distinct problems.

Zinc — easier release at the target. Synthetic chelators are foreign molecules to the plant. Structures like EDTA hold the metal tightly, with high stability, which can make it harder to release that metal at the target tissue and can require the plant to spend extra biochemical work breaking the bond. Vitamin B6, by contrast, is a natural part of the plant's own metabolism: plants produce it themselves and carry a dedicated, high-affinity transporter system that recognizes and moves it. We anticipate that this natural recognition also helps the complex release its metal more readily at the target tissue. Our pyridoxine complex aims to deliver zinc to the target tissue with less biochemical resistance and energy cost than synthetic chelators.

Boron — protected nutrition when flow breaks down. As the science above describes, low transpiration under drought and heat keeps boron from reaching the flowers and young fruit that need it most. Our pyridoxine complex aims to keep boron nutrition from being compromised even under adverse abiotic conditions.

The use of this molecule as plant nutrition, a biostimulant, and an anti-abiotic-stress agent is covered by patent application 2025/014197.

Stated honestly: the established science above is settled and peer-reviewed. The carrier-delivery advantage over synthetic chelates is our design hypothesis, still under validation. There is no field application yet; the project is at the science and patent stage.

In the light of agriculture

The intended applications span crop nutrition and stress resilience, from cereals to fruit trees, where safe boron delivery and abiotic-stress tolerance matter most. Two routes to value are envisaged: a standalone product and a value-add component for existing fertilizers, alongside licensing, in step with Green-Deal and Farm-to-Fork directions. Commercialization is planned through Olimpum, a Bursa crop-nutrition manufacturer with 125+ products exporting to 60+ countries.