I understand that amino acid absorption can be due to passive diffusion as well as active transport, and both depend on the architecture of the leaf, age of the plant, climatic conditions (mainly humidity) etc. It is quite common to find articles that describe different families of transporters inside the plant as roots, phloem, etc. (including peptides and/or small oligopeptides), but my question relates to the absorption through the cuticle or stomata.
In agronomy, foliar amino acid fertilisers are marketed due to their content in free amino acids. Apparently, free amino acids are functional and can trigger a beneficial response in the plant, while the peptides are considered as not relevant.
However, in the literature it can also be found that the benefits of small peptides can range from antioxidants to antimicrobials, etc. If this is the case and plants can benefit of these properties, have the small peptides been absorbed?
Thank you.
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