Viridem® is the ILSA plant-biostimulants programme

ILSA produces biostimulant products for crops made from renewable plant sources, using sustainable industrial processes and with a multidisciplinary approach, encapsulated in a programme that the company has named Viridem^®. This programme includes the most advanced know-how in molecular biology, microbiology, proteomics, metabolomics, physiology, chemistry and bio-processes. A very long process of research has enabled ILSA to identify, isolate, purify and analyse metabolites and natural substances at the roots of its plant biostimulants. Ilsa has selected and analysed many plant species and identified bioactive substances. If extracted correctly, these will contribute to the development of products that can enable crops to overcome environmental stresses more readily, by acting on primary and secondary metabolism.

Agronomists, biotechnologists, biochemists, chemists and engineers have worked together to apply to agricultural products for the first time, technologies such as the enzymatic hydrolysis process or the extraction of bioactive molecules through supercritical CO₂ (SFE^® - Supercritical Fluid Extraction), processes typically used in the food, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics sectors. Ilsa has developed an industrial process to hydrolyse proteins enzymatically. The process is positively distinguished for the preservation of amino acids in their levorotatory form, the biologically active form which is beneficial for plants.

Using supercritical CO₂ extraction technology, the extracts obtained are stable. Unlike conventional processes the selectivity of the extraction process that Ilsa uses does not entail thermal stress on the raw materials and does not require the use of organic solvents. Because of its very low environmental impact, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration - USA) has designated this industrial process GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe). What does this mean for farmers and for the environment? It means they now have access to eco-friendly products that make crops less susceptible to stress and which result in higher and better quality yields from the same farmland. Ilsa is thus promoting the choice of conservation in farming by protecting the soil, facilitating adaptations to climate change, saving water and promoting the use of fertilizers in ways that are more efficient, sustainable and integrated.