Research for a more liveable world
Productive agriculture is essential to a more liveable world, and research is what keeps it productive. One of the largest obstacles in front of it is climate change and the abiotic stress that follows. Around eighteen months ago Olimpum began a project we believe can help shape the future of farming, a TUBITAK-supported R&D programme now in its final phase, with first production planned for 2027.
Cold stress R&DA producer carries a responsibility
As a plant nutrition manufacturer, Olimpum carries a responsibility that goes beyond supply: working towards a more liveable world. That world is not possible without productive agriculture, and productive agriculture is not possible without research.
Today the largest obstacle in front of that productivity is climate change and the abiotic stress it brings. Cold stress in particular causes some of the heaviest losses before harvest, and those losses feed straight into the price of food.
Olimpum has worked on this problem for years. Around eighteen months ago we began a project we believe can help shape the future of agriculture, a TUBITAK-supported R&D programme now in its final phase, with first production planned for 2027.
A natural answer to cold stress
We are developing a new generation boron-based polyphenolic biostimulant that helps plants hold their ground through cold stress, built from natural raw materials and applied from soil or leaf.
It is designed as one platform behind several products, supporting germination and early growth in cereals such as maize, and frost tolerance at flower bud in fruit trees such as apricot. The pages that follow set out the problem it solves, the science behind it, and what our trials show.
What cold stress does to a crop
Low temperature does not damage a plant in one way. It works on several fronts at once, and each one costs yield.
Delayed germination
At low temperature seeds sprout slowly or stop altogether, so the crop starts behind from the first day.
Stunted growth
Root and leaf extension are held back, and low-temperature chlorosis leaves the canopy pale and weak.
Lost fruit set
Flower drop, pollen sterility and poor fruit set turn cold spells into a direct hit on the harvest.
Frost damage
An early spring or late autumn frost can wipe out a crop wholesale, the heaviest single loss of all.
What cold stress is. Cold stress is low-temperature stress in the 0 to 20 °C range; below 0 °C it becomes freezing stress, and the two are not the same. Many staple crops, maize, rice and tomato among them, are sensitive to cold and do not adapt easily. Today's answers are either water and energy heavy physical methods or general purpose chemicals. A natural, cold-specific input that also feeds the plant has been missing.
High demand, an open field
Cold stress is a global reality, and our export network of close to sixty countries runs through the regions most exposed to it.
A rare position. In patent and market screening we did not find a cold-specific product equivalent to this boron-enriched polyphenolic component. That is an unusual place to be, suited to both import substitution at home and premium export abroad.
Two natural forces, combined
Plant-derived polyphenols
Polyphenols are powerful antioxidants found across many plants. Under cold, a plant naturally raises its phenolic production and stimulates flavonoid metabolism to build its own resistance.
Boron
Boron is decisive in cell-wall structure, sugar transport and core metabolic processes. When boron runs short, a plant's tolerance to drought and cold falls with it.
The synergy. Brought together, the antioxidant action of the polyphenol and the structural role of boron produce a boron-polyphenolic component that supports many-sided resilience to cold, rather than treating one symptom in isolation.
Three functions in one product
Strengthen
Raises the plant's resistance and resilience to cold stress, and to abiotic stress more broadly.
Feed
Carries a fertilizer function, taken up easily by the plant and supporting more efficient use of nutrients.
Sustain
Natural in origin and environmentally considerate, it needs less chemical intervention and respects soil health.
From concept to product. Natural raw material (plant-derived polyphenol plus boron) → a proprietary, registration-oriented process → water-soluble solid and liquid candidates, applied from soil or leaf. One platform, several products: germination and early growth in cereals such as maize, and frost tolerance at flower bud in fruit trees such as apricot.
Verified in the laboratory
In controlled trials designed with our university partner, the results held up consistently across different low temperatures and concentrations.
Illustrative direction only, not to scale. Control is shown as a baseline. Doses, raw data and effect magnitudes are confidential and shared only under NDA.
Under cold conditions, maize seed germination improved significantly with the component, and the boron derivative outperformed the plain polyphenol. Low-temperature plant growth, measured as plant height, improved clearly as well, with the boron derivative again showing a statistical advantage.
What to remember: two independent studies pointed the same way and crossed the threshold of statistical significance. The effect is expected to carry across to other cereals and fruits.
A three-legged foundation
What makes this technology strong is not only the originality of the idea, but the structure standing behind it.
Olimpum
A Bursa-based manufacturer since 2013, exporting under four brands to close to sixty countries, with a distribution network already in place.
University collaboration
Scientific groundwork built with a university partner and an experienced academic team, who designed the controlled trials behind the technology.
TUBITAK backing
Developed within a TUBITAK-supported University-Industry Collaboration project, a publicly reviewed R&D process.
The right story at the right time
Green Deal aligned
In step with the Farm to Fork vision of sustainable agriculture and environmentally considerate inputs.
Circular and low carbon
An approach that watches resource efficiency and soil health, with less chemical intervention and lower energy need.
Two revenue models
A standalone product, and a value-adding component for existing liquid fertilizers, with a ready channel across sixty markets.
A strategic footprint
A new commercial path for boron, a strategic national resource, supporting import substitution, export capacity and food security.
From concept to first production
Be there early
Distributors and partners who want to move with this technology can talk to us about evaluation and supply under NDA.