Environmental and Earth Sciences

Abstract: Digital Twins (DTs) are increasingly proposed as decision-support environments for complex urban and infrastructural systems, yet documented applications to urban river corridors remain limited. This paper applies a DT methodology, developed within the Agenzia del Demanio guidelines prepared by CITERA, to the urban stretch of the Tiber River in Rome. The case study covers approximately 8 km of the urban stretch between Ponte Milvio and the Tiber Island, with detailed survey and documentation concentrated on the sixteen bridges and the adjoining banks between Ponte della Musica and Ponte Palatino and was carried out within an AUBAC-CITERA research agreement. Three objectives were adopted: condition-based maintenance of riverbed and bank hydraulic works, hydraulic-risk monitoring, and hydro-pluviometric monitoring in support of flood-risk and water-governance decisions. The application produced high-resolution point clouds, Scan-to-BIM information models of the sixteen bridges exported in IFC 4.3, geospatial contextualisation in Autodesk InfraWorks, and a target architecture for federation with AUBAC's WebGIS environment and future monitoring flows. Sensor deployment, continuous data flows, machine-learning components, dashboard operation and indicator validation remain planned and not yet operational. The system should therefore be understood as a digital model and target DT architecture prepared for evolution towards a digital shadow and, subsequently, an operational Digital Twin. The contribution lies in documenting how a pre-existing methodology performs in a complex institutional urban-river context, what information assets it yields, and which implementation constraints must be addressed before an operational DT can be claimed.

Abstract: Agricultural soils worldwide face a growing imbalance of heavy metal(loid)s—arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), and chromium (Cr)—driven by mining, industry, and intensive farming inputs. Because bioavailability rather than total content governs crop uptake, metal(loid)s accumulate in edible tissues and threaten food safety, particularly in rice-based diets. This review critically evaluates green management strategies that control metal(loid) accumulation along the soil–crop–food continuum while preserving soil functions and minimizing energy inputs. We first synthesize sources, soil biogeochemical controls on bioavailability, and plant uptake and translocation pathways, then appraise four strategy families: water, redox, and agronomic management; immobilization amendments, including lime, biochar, iron/manganese oxides, and nano-enabled sorbents; plant-based strategies, from low-accumulation cultivars to silicon/selenium supplementation and phytoextraction; and microbial-assisted remediation. We then link these strategies to food-safety outcomes, comparing international regulatory limits for staple foods, and identify field validation, amendment longevity, co-metal trade-offs, and life-cycle sustainability as the key remaining challenges. An integrated, site-specific green management framework—coupling cultivar selection, water control, and low-cost amendments—emerges as the most practical route to safe production on contaminated land.

Abstract: The disciplinary memory of a scientific community, the collective recognition of the researchers who have most contributed to a field, is a sociologically relevant yet underexplored dimension of Earth sciences. This study presents consensus rankings of geoscientists that developed scientific research about Geology of Portugal. A nomination survey, organized into seven chrono-thematic domains (Geotectonic Framework of the Iberian Peninsula, Precambrian, Lower Paleozoic, Upper Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic, and Meso-Cenozoic of the Portuguese Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira), was distributed in 2026 to a purposive sample of 230 geoscientists affiliated with Portuguese public universities. Of the 129 responses received, 45 complete responses were included in the ranking analysis. For each domain, complete descriptive statistics are presented, together with rankings of geoscientists with three or more nominations and the cut-off criteria for the biographical corpus. In total, 45 respondents produced 817 nominations, with an average of 6.5 names per list. The results reveal cross-domain consensus, with figures such as António Ribeiro, Paul Choffat, José Madeira, and João Pais emerging as canonical references. At the same time, the asymmetric distribution of nominations, with long tails of geoscientists mentioned only once, indicates that the community's knowledge of past contributions is diverse and partly idiosyncratic. To the best of the authors' knowledge, these rankings constitute the first evidence-based systematization of the disciplinary memory of Portuguese geosciences and provide the empirical basis for the project Geology of Portugal through Faces.

Abstract: This article presents preliminary results from a geoarchaeological and geomorphological investigation of Amazigh agricultural landscapes in the western Anti Atlas (Morocco). Fieldwork followed two main survey transects across contrasting physiographic units, including external plateaus, synclinal depressions, the Kerdous inlier, and spring fed inner oases. The survey documented a wide range of landesque and associated agrarian features, including agricultural terraces, check dams, cisterns, threshing platforms, settlements, and fortified collective granaries (igoudar). Their distribution shows a strong relationship with geology, slope morphology, sediment availability, water circulation, and settlement organisation. On plateaus and synclines, agrarian structures are closely associated with igoudar, settlements, runoff control, and crop processing areas. Within the Kerdous inlier, extensive terracing occurs across rugged slopes, while inner oases combine spring fed agroforestry on valley floors with dense terracing along basin margins. These results suggest that the western Anti Atlas should be understood as a long term engineered socio ecological landscape shaped by Amazigh collective strategies for soil conservation, water management, cultivation, storage, and territorial protection.

Abstract: The work proposes a model of ball lightning (BL). Ball lightning is considered as a thin-walled bubble of foamed molten glass filled with hot gas. The BL shell material is formed from molten soil components because of an electrical discharge in the soil caused by cloud-to-ground lightning strike. The bubble is inflated by gases released from the discharge channel. The shell thickness can range from tens to hundreds of micrometers, and the BL mass reaches several tens of grams for medium-sized BL (20–40 cm). The pressure of the hot gas filling the BL differs only slightly from the atmospheric pressure, which ensures the integrity of the BL shell. Ball lightning may not have internal energy sources, acquiring energy at birth. The initial temperature of long-lived ball lightning is about 2500 K, this value decreases due to the cooling of the BL. Ball lightning may or may not have an electric charge, this is not a decisive factor for its existence.

Abstract: Agroforestry is widely promoted as a socioecological strategy that can integrate biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation, sustainable production, and rural development, yet the relative position of rural livelihoods within the scientific structure of the field remains insufficiently understood. This study evaluated the temporal evolution, conceptual organization, and geographical and economic distribution of global agroforestry research, with particular attention to the autonomy of livelihood-related research. A bibliometric analysis was conducted using 5,713 Scopus-indexed journal articles published between 1976 and 2025. Records were classified into four non-exclusive analytical domains: biodiversity/conservation, climate-carbon-soil, production/silvopastoral-agronomic systems, and livelihoods/socioeconomic dimensions. The analysis combined temporal bibliometric indicators, semantic normalization of Author Keywords, Multiple Correspondence Analysis, Sankey mapping, domain proportion tests, chord diagrams, and chi-square tests. Agroforestry research expanded substantially and became thematically more diversified. Climate-carbon-soil and production/silvopastoral-agronomic systems showed the highest proportional contributions, whereas rural livelihoods were visible but did not form an autonomous conceptual domain. Instead, livelihood-related terms were embedded within a broader socioecological/conservation cluster. Livelihoods/socioeconomic research was more strongly represented in Africa, Asia, and lower-middle- and low-income contexts. These findings indicate that rural livelihoods are present in agroforestry research but remain less conceptually autonomous than environmental, climate-related, and production-oriented domains.

Abstract: The banana pseudostem is a plentiful lignocellulosic biomass residue that results from banana cultivation and which is typically thrown away without proper usage. The effect of particle sizes and moisture content on biogas formation from banana pseudostem under anaerobic digestion conditions has been studied in this experiment with FTIR used to assess structural degradation of the lignocellulosic biomass. Three different sizes (8, 14, and 18 BSS) of banana pseudostems have been taken and their moisture contents varied into three percentages, namely 70%, 80%, and 90%. Anaerobic digestion studies have been performed for 21 days with cow dung slurry as the inoculum. It was clearly evident from the findings that both particle sizes and water contents had a profound effect on biogas formation. In week one, the maximum amount of biogas (70 mL) formed by any treatment was that of 8 BSS with 80% water content. However, in weeks two and three, the maximum amount of biogas (95 mL) was formed by the 18 BSS treatment having 80% water content. The cumulative analysis of biogas formations found the treatment combination of 18 BSS particle size with 80% water content to be the optimum treatment producing 238 mL of biogas. The gas analysis by gas chromatography confirmed the presence of methane gas in the produced biogas. Further, it was observed through FTIR analysis that there were gradual changes in the functional groups of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin components. This research demonstrates that banana pseduostem is a potential renewable feedstock for biogas production, and an optimized particle size and moisture content have significant effects on improving anaerobic digestion efficiency. These results contribute to the utilization of agricultural waste from bananas as renewable energy sources.

Abstract: Coriander shows a wide range of bioactive components that support its nutraceutical potential that, according to the literature, can be enhanced through plant-associated microorganisms. Endophyte fungi Byssochlamys spectabilis and one fungus belonging to the Xylariaceae family were evaluated from an agronomic (i.e. dry weight), and chemical (both plant and essential oil (EO)) perspective. Endophytes were either inoculated in coriander plants or sprayed their filtrates as aerial treatment. Inoculated Xylariaceae fungus prompted higher (32%) plant dry weight also exhibiting a tendency to delay plant maturation. Inoculated plants showed higher antioxidant capacity than control, increasing tenfold with Xylariaceae, and doubling by using B. spectabilis (36.94 mg Trolox/g versus 17.32 mg Trolox/g in control plants). Regarding minerals, Zn was slightly increased after applying the B. spectabilis filtrate, while K and Fe decreased slightly after inoculation with Xylaraceae fungus. The application of B. spectabilis filtrate increased myristic acid from 1.9% to 2.6% and from <0.05% to 0.7% in young and older plants EO, respectively, while inoculation with Xylariaceae endophyte increased n-decanal and n-undecanal, from 1% to 2.6% and from 1.1% to 1.8%, respectively, in young plants. Endophytic fungi can improve both coriander production and EO metabolomic profile.

Abstract: This study evaluates the effects of sampling interval and averaging period on the assessment of extreme mean wind speeds for structural design, focusing on correction factors for the standard meteorological observations that are archived for more than 35,000 stations around the globe. A literature review reveals insights and flaws in past works that influenced the design of the two phases of the study. The first phase uses 2-minute mean wind speeds at 1-minute intervals over, typically, 20 years from 642 well-exposed stations distributed over the contiguous USA that are averaged to the World Meteorological Organization standard ten-minute and hourly means. Informed by the first stage results, which confirms good representation by the Weibull distribution with a von Karman autocorrelation, the second phase uses simulated 1,000-year timeseries to investigate the parameters governing the effects, which are: sampling interval, averaging period, integral timescale of the autocorrelation, and the return period of the extremes. The effects of these four parameters, in any combination, consolidate into a single analytical equation with empirically calibrated coefficients which is a good match well to the empirical analysis of the first phase, when using the appropriate integral time scale.

Abstract: The Upper Rhine Graben (URG) has been a key area for subsurface energy activities for decades, with a focus on hydrocarbons during the mid- to late 1900s and a gradual shift toward energy transition applications such as geothermal energy and, potentially in the future, underground hydrogen storage (UHS). This study focuses on the northern URG, where legacy hydrocarbon fields and saline aquifers provide suitable subsurface structures and infrastructure for assessing the feasibility of UHS, although data coverage varies and remains limited in some areas. Some of these were converted into underground gas storage (UGS) in past and are still in use, providing operational experience. The aim is to use data from well-understood sites to forecast UHS scenarios and assess the suitability for locations with similar geological settings. Two UGS sites, Stockstadt and Hähnlein were used as analogue fields due to their comprehensive production and storage datasets to investigate their potential for future UHS. A structural model was developed using well and seismic data, followed by dynamic simulation to investigate flow behaviour under shallow reservoir conditions (depth of 300–500 m and temperature of ~29 °C) in a porous reservoir. The model was calibrated through history matching of both earlier production and UGS phases to capture aquifer dimensions and their role in pressure support and recovery, which is particularly important in this region due to the presence of an active aquifer. Based on this validated model, two hypothetical UHS scenarios were simulated using different working gas (WG) compositions: a low-H2 case (5% H2 and 95% CH4) and a pure-H2 case, while the remaining natural gas in the reservoir was considered as cushion gas (CG). The simulation results highlight the high mobility and low viscosity of hydrogen, as the pure-H2 case shows sharper production peaks, faster decline, and increased water production compared to the low-H2 case. In contrast, the CH4-rich WG provides a more stable flow behaviour and smoother production response. Over successive cycles, the hydrogen fraction in the produced gas increases, indicating the gradual establishment of the WG zone. Based on the analogue, the potential of the nearby old gas fields was assessed using map-based estimation with Monte Carlo simulation, which indicated promising conditions for UHS development.

Abstract: The current system of state land cadastral valuation relies predominantly on economic indicators, overlooking natural and environmental hazards in its calculations. Ignoring these local risks severely distorts the objective value of land parcels in complex territo-ries such as the Bostandyk District of Almaty. Determining fair property values re-quires implementing a methodology capable of mathematically accounting for tectonic faults, zones of 9- and 10-point seismic intensity, and environmental discomfort indi-cators. A GIS-based spatial analysis of 62 cadastral blocks, utilizing up-to-date seismic microzoning maps, enabled the calculation of an integrated risk coefficient for each specific location. Mathematical modeling demonstrated the impact of negative exter-nalities on land pricing. Accounting for geological hazards results in a proportional 20–45% reduction in the unit cadastral value for the most vulnerable areas. This new valu-ation paradigm shifts the focus toward urban environmental safety and restores the so-cial equity of the cadastre. Establishing objective, discounted prices creates a natural economic barrier against urban densification in hazardous zones. The developed ana-lytical algorithm is universal and can be scaled to other seismically active regions in Central Asia.

Abstract: Salinity is a major abiotic constraint that limits maize productivity by disrupting plant growth, photosynthesis, nutrient homeostasis, antioxidant defense, and rhizosphere functioning. This study evaluated the individual and combined effects of N-acyl homoserine lactone (AHL), cellulose-wicked biochar (CWB), silicon-enriched biochar (SEB), and cellulose-wicked silicon-enriched biochar (CWSEB) on maize grown under naturally non-saline (2.56 dS m−1) and saline (5.21 dS m−1) field conditions. Two salinity environments and eight treatments (control, AHL, CWB, CWB + AHL, SEB, SEB + AHL, CWSEB, and CWSEB + AHL) were evaluated with four replicates. Salinity markedly impaired maize growth, photosynthesis, and productivity, whereas the combined application of CWSEB + AHL produced the strongest mitigation response. Under saline conditions, CWSEB + AHL increased plant height by 14.57%, root length by 82.89%, photosynthetic rate by 33.14%, and grain yield by 31.03%, and biological yield by 85.67% relative to the saline control. The combined treatment also enhanced rhizosphere AHL concentration, exopolysaccharide production, and ACC deaminase activity by 33.33%, 30.56%, and 29.56%, respectively, while substantially increasing total soluble proteins and free amino acids. These coordinated responses indicate that CWSEB + AHL alleviated salinity stress by simultaneously improving plant physiological performance and rhizosphere functional activity. In conclusion, integrating CWSEB and AHL proved to be the most effective strategy for alleviating salinity stress in maize under non-saline and naturally saline soil conditions. Future studies should validate the long-term performance of CWSEB + AHL across diverse agroecological conditions and elucidate the underlying molecular and rhizosphere microbial mechanisms responsible for salinity tolerance.

Abstract: Background: Microplastics are increasingly detected in human tissue, and electromagnetic/magnetic fields (EMF/MF) are common occupational exposures, yet whether these two exposure types could interact biologically has received little systematic attention. Purpose: To update and substantially expand a prior 53-source evidence map into a comprehensive evidence-mapping review evaluating whether circulating microplastics and EMF/MF exposure plausibly converge on shared biological pathways relevant to occupational health, and whether cumulative-exposure risk-assessment methods can formalize this as a research agenda. Methods: A structured evidence-mapping approach was used, expanding the literature bank to 108 sources through searches of PubMed-indexed literature, major publisher databases, and institutional/regulatory sources, covering microplastic toxicology, human biomonitoring, EMF/MF exposure and bioeffects, oxidative stress and inflammation biology, and occupational cumulative-exposure methodology. Sources were coded across eight evidence-type categories and sixteen mechanistic themes using a documented keyword procedure applied uniformly to all sources. Results: Microplastic exposure (70 of 108 sources) and oxidative stress/reactive oxygen species (34 of 108) were the dominant themes. Two mechanisms absent from the original map are now populated: genotoxicity/DNA damage (10 sources) and mitochondrial dysfunction (4 sources). Human detection evidence expanded from 7 to 10 tissue/fluid types, including brain, artery, and reproductive tissue. EMF/MF biological-effect evidence (26 sources) remained inconsistent. A new occupational/cumulative-exposure framework category (7 sources) was added. No study directly tested combined microplastic-EMF/MF exposure. Conclusions: The proposed interaction remains biologically plausible but empirically unconfirmed. Its practical value lies in identifying specific occupational settings, biomarkers, and a methodology for cumulative risk assessment for future testing, rather than in any confirmed health effect.

Abstract: This study evaluates the quality and usability of disclosed environmental, social and governance (ESG) information in Bulgaria and Moldova through data gaps, multiview Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) and environmental-security relevance. A purposive corpus of 36 organisations (18 per country), spanning corporate, financial and public-sector entities, was assessed using a Data Gap Matrix with 15 ESG indicators and five dimensions: availability, granularity, auditability, LCSA relevance and environmental-security materiality, the latter treated as diagnostic rather than observed. The matrix generated 540 indicator-level coding units. Medians, interquartile ranges and score frequencies were used descriptively, while country and sector differences were tested using organisation-level non-parametric procedures with Holm adjustment. Availability and granularity recorded medians of 2.00, whereas auditability was weakest, with a median of 1.00. Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions represented the most critical indicator-level gap. Environmental-security materiality was higher in Bulgaria (U = 247.5; adjusted p = 0.034; rank-biserial correlation = 0.528), though not reproduced in the median-based sensitivity analysis. No sector-level difference remained significant in the primary mean-based analysis; a difference emerged only under the median-based sensitivity check, driven by the public-financial comparison. Findings are exploratory and aggregation-sensitive, highlighting insufficient disaggregation, evidential quality and assurance readiness in emerging CSRD/ESRS-aligned reporting environments.

Abstract: Forest ownership fragmentation represents a major constraint to sustainable forest management in many European countries, particularly in Italy, where private forests are often divided into small and spatially dispersed holdings. This study evaluates the potential of cadastral data to support forest owner aggregation through a graph-based spatial network analysis implemented within the Forest Sharing® platform. The analysis was conducted on 29,549 cadastral forest parcels voluntarily registered by 910 private forest owners across Italy. Parcels were represented as nodes in a spatial network and connected using four aggregation-distance thresholds (100, 250, 500, and 1000 m). Connected components were interpreted as potential forest management clusters. Only clusters including at least 30 ha of forest area and a minimum of two owners were retained. The proposed methodology successfully identified aggregable forest management units under all scenarios. Increasing aggregation distances substantially increased both the number of eligible clusters and the total forest area available for collective management. The number of clusters increased from 5 at the 100 m threshold to 48 at 500 m, while the aggregable forest area increased from approximately 700 ha to more than 12,000 ha at the 1000 m threshold. Most clusters involve two and five owners, indicating that substantial aggregation opportunities can be achieved without excessive ownership complexity. The study highlights the potential of cadastral information and spatial network analysis to support forest owner associations, collective management initiatives, and forest policy measures aimed at overcoming ownership fragmentation.

Abstract: As a commonly present organophosphorus flame retardants and persistent organic pollutant 2-ethylhexyl diphenyl phosphate (EHDPP) has been observed to be genotoxic in cultured human hepatoma (HepG2) cells which depended on CYP activities. Yet, its impact on hepatic Cyp expression, hepatotoxicity and genotoxicity in intact mammalians remain unidentified. In this study, adult male C57BL/6J mice received EHDPP by gastric gavage at doses of 50, 100, and 150 mg/kg (b.w.)/d for 7 d, then the hepatic expression of several Cyp proteins, aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) and pregnane X receptor (PXR) was analyzed by Western blotting; hepatoxicity was determined by serum ALT/AST activities and hepatic histological examination, while genotoxicity by comet assay, phosphorylated histone (γ-H2AX) protein, micronucleus test, and Pig-a assay. Micronucleus test in mouse hepatoma (Hepa1-6) cells in vitro was employed to observed the modulating effect of PCB 126 (100 nM)/BAY-218 (700 nM) (Ahr-Cyp1a1 activator/inhibitor). The results indicated that EHDPP induced hepatic Cyp1a1, 2e1, AhR, Cyp1a2, Cyp3a4 and PXR proteins and histologic liver damage at 50 mg/kg/d or higher doses, while at the highest dose (150 mg/kg/d) with hepatic DNA damage and micronucleus formation in bone marrow polychromatic erythrocytes. The result of Pig-a assay (at 14 and 28 d) was negative. In Hepa1-6 cells EHDPP induced micronucleus marginally; however, this effect was enhanced by PCB 126, while abolished by BAY-218. This study suggests that EHDPP may enhance protein expression of hepatic Cyp1a1, Cyp2e1, AhR and PXR, and induce liver damage and DNA/chromosome damage in mouse; Cyp1a1 might be a major activating enzyme.

Abstract: Point-of-interest (POI) recommendation in location-based social networks (LBSNs) predicts a user’s next visit using check-in records. As critical factors influencing user decision-making, geographic and social contexts are incorporated to deliver higher-quality recommendation services. While current methods suffer from two limitations: geographical modeling is confined by distance thresholds, ignoring long-range spatio-temporal transitions; and social graphs remain static, failing to capture dynamic behavioral similarities among unconnected users. To address these gaps, we propose GSTRDFA (Global Spatio-Temporal Relationship- and Dynamic Friendship-Aware), a novel model comprising three layers. First, we construct spatio-temporal KGs (STKGs) that encode four relationship types: global spatio-temporal and local geospatial POI-POI links, dynamic user-user friendships, and static social ties. Second, four dedicated encoders—STSEncoder (spatio-temporal state embedding), GeoEncoder (geographical convolution), DFEncoder (graph attention network), and SocEncoder (GraphSAGE)—propagate and aggregate user and POI embeddings along these STKG relations. Third, a GRU-based sequence predictor uses the fused embeddings to match candidate POIs to the user. Evaluations on Foursquare datasets (NYC, JK, CA) show that GSTRDFA outperforms existing methods, improving Acc@1/5/10 and MRR by 2.79-6.67%. Key contributions include: (1) unifying spatial, temporal, and dynamic social signals via STKGs; (2) jointly modeling global spatio-temporal transitions and dynamic friendships; and (3) enabling balanced short-/long-range and short-/long-term transition prediction.

Abstract: This study investigated the spatiotemporal dynamics of climate potential productivity and its correlation with changes in maize productivity in four agroclimatic zones of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) using Thornthwaite Memorial models and Mann–Kendall Trend Analysis from 1960 to 2024. Climate potential productivity showed contrasting trends between agroclimatic zones. In the Haut-Katanga and Tchuapa zones, the precipitation showed a strong positive relationship with climate potential productivity, emphasizing that water availability from rainfall is the primary driver of agricultural productivity. In Kongo Central and South Kivu zones, both precipitation and temperature indicated a positive relationship with climate potential productivity, highlighting that agricultural productivity in these zones, is highly sensitive to tropical climate variability. The climate resource utilization efficiency demonstrates markedly divergent trends across agroclimatic zones, possibly due to distinct agroclimatic conditions. Climate resource utilization efficiency indicated a fluctuating positive relationship with per-unit maize yield in the four agroclimatic zones. During the studied period, maize yield declined by 19.68%, 17.48%, 13.40%, and 15.65% in the agroclimatic zones of Haut-Katanga, Kongo Central, South Kivu, and Tchuapa, respectively. These findings can help in mitigating climate-related risks and contributing to agricultural resilience and food security.

Abstract: This study evaluated the dose dependent effects of a nodule associated bacterial isolate subsequently identified by whole genome sequencing as Kosakonia cowanii on nodulation, nitrogen status, growth, phenology and yield components of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L. cv. Centenario) under greenhouse conditions in northern Ecuador. A randomized complete block design with five treatments and three replicates was used, including three inoculation doses (6×109, 6×104·5 and 6×102·25 CFU mL−1), a non-inoculated control and a nitrogen-fertilized control. Significant differences were detected for plant height, SPAD index, phenological development, nodulation and 100 seed weight. The lowest inoculation dose (T3) produced the strongest biological response, reaching 227.67 nodules plant−1, approximately 6.5 times more than the non-fertilized control, and the highest SPAD value at 60 days after sowing (41.16), exceeding both the non-fertilized control (26.84) and the nitrogen-fertilized treatment (33.14). T3 also achieved the greatest plant height (80.31 cm) and accelerated flowering and pod formation by up to two days compared with higher inoculation doses. Although grain yield did not differ significantly among treatments because of high experimental variability and limited statistical power, inoculated plants-maintained yields comparable to the nitrogen fertilized control while improving seed filling. Whole genome sequencing confirmed the identity of the dominant genome as K. cowanii (ANI = 96.73%; completeness = 99.03%; contamination = 0.63%), supporting the interpretation that this bacterium acts primarily as a plant growth promoting and nodule associated bacterium rather than a classical nitrogen fixing symbiont. These findings highlight the potential of native K. cowanii as a component of sustainable biofertilization strategies for Andean bean production systems.

Abstract: The European Union Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 on novel foods has created new opportunities for the valorization of marine by-products within the framework of the circular bioeconomy and sustainable blue economy. Refined shrimp peptide concentrate (RSPC), obtained through enzymatic hydrolysis of Pandalus borealis shells and heads, represents a relevant case study for examining the interaction between food innovation, regulatory assessment, sustainability, and value-chain development. This study analyzes the EFSA scientific opinion on RSPC and reviews available compositional, toxicological, allergenicity, and clinical evidence, contextualizing the ingredient within European policies on circular economy, resource efficiency, and sustainable food systems. The assessment indicates that RSPC consists mainly of low-molecular-weight peptides with demonstrated angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity and potential applications in blood pressure management. Beyond its functional properties, the valorization of shrimp processing by-products offers opportunities to reduce waste generation, increase resource efficiency, and create new economic value within the seafood sector. The case study highlights how the novel food regulatory framework can support the safe market introduction of innovative marine-derived ingredients while contributing to circular economy objectives. Although challenges related to allergenicity management, consumer acceptance, and industrial scalability remain, RSPC demonstrates the potential of marine by-product valorization to foster more sustainable, resilient, and economically viable food systems.