While farmers and hydroponic growers may be familiar with fulvic acid as an essential supplement for healthy plants, they often aren’t aware of the need for other organic acids that serve as necessary ingredients for producing the best tasting and the healthiest plants.
The organic acids found in the AgTonik MLG-50 product may have some odd sounding names — such as caffeic, shikimic, and protocatechuic acids — but they are important just the same. In one way or another, all of these acids can be found in healthy plant structures.
Past civilizations have known about the benefits of some of these acids for centuries — even if their chemical structures weren’t understood. We now know that vinegar is pungent because of its acetic acid, rhubarb has its tart taste due to its malic acid, and soured milk contains lactic acid. Even though these acids often are produced on a large scale basis from industrial chemical reactions, some meant for human consumption are still extracted from plant materials using techniques as they did in ancient times.
Modern science is just beginning to understand the subtle roles that these organic acids play in promoting plant growth, largely by dissolving compounds normally insoluble in the ground so plant roots can absorb the trace elements.
For instance, studies have shown that gallic acid helps promote growth of roots in the plant Eranthemum tricolor and repair rice plant cells injured from toxins by increasing the level of antioxidant activity and photosynthetic efficiency. Yet with these obvious benefits, there aren’t any pure gallic acid products on the market today meant to be used strictly as plant supplements.
Due to its proprietary source and extraction techniques, AgTonik’s MLG-50 product has a natural blend of these organic acids, along with fulvic acid and an additional 18 amino acids. The company’s unique deposit is prehistoric plant-matter, unlike fulvic acids derived from fossil fuels, coal or Leonardite. Here’s a link to more details about our mine: Natural, Sustainable Extraction.
AgTonik uses a pure-water ambient temperature extraction method that is chemical free to preserve the natural organic acids. However, these acids are destroyed in a common process for extracting fulvic acid from Leonardite (a type of coal) that uses strong alkalies such as potassium or sodium hydroxide. Here’s a link to more details about our processes: Bioactive Content.