Aminochelates in plant nutrition: a review

Chelates are compounds that are applied to improve nutrition, especially the micronutrients status of plant tissues. During past decades, various chelating agents have been synthesized and introduced to agricultural systems. The recent formulas are aminochelates that are synthesized using various amino acids and a single or several nutrient ions aimed at improving fertilizer use efficiency and more adaptation to environment protection. Apart from their primary use as a micronutrient source, aminochelates represent an effective nitrogen (N) fertilizer in plant nutrition that can avoid negative effects from simple N fertilizers, such as urea. In various studies, higher yield and quality as well as higher concentration of nutrient elements have been obtained by application of aminochelates rather than simple chemical fertilizers. These compounds claimed to be more natural and safer forms of chelating agents, with higher use efficiency and without environmental side effects. However, there is lack of sufficient knowledge especially regarding their detailed impacts and their fate within the soil and plant system. This review provides information concerning the role of aminochelates in plant nutrition and to summarize the previous recent studies that have been done using these fertilizers.