1 I st International Leather Engineering Symposium “Leather Industry-Environment and Progressive Technologies”, 2009 (non-publishing abstract) FIELD TEST FOR FOLIAR NUTRITIVE PRODUCTS FORMULATED WITH THE LEATHER PROTEIN HYDROLYSATES VICTOR LACATUS 2 , CARMEN GAIDAU 3 , AURA IONITA 1 , MIHAELA NICULESCU 3 , MARIANA POPESCU 4 , DOREL ACSINTE 4 , LAURENTIU FILIPESCU 1 , 1- Politehnica University of Bucharest, Romania 2- Research Institute for Vegetable and Flower Growing Vidra, Romania 3- INCDTP – Leather and Footwear Research Institute, Bucharest, Romania 4- SC Pielorex SA Jilava, Romania Keywords: protein hydrolysis, foliar fluids, leather waste, growth enhancing. Abstract: Waste leather hydrolysates prove to be a valuable protein resource possible to be converted to added value commercial products as soil fertilizers, biodegradable polymers and additives for cosmetic industry, building materials, etc. [1-3]. Chromium free protein additives with amino acids content were obtained by using chemical and chemical-enzymatic hydrolysis and proved good properties to be used as foliar growth enhancers and biostimulators for fruit and vegetable crops. Our previous papers [4, 5] illuminate some particular ways to convey to these hydrolysis products specific foliar properties as: low surface tension, moderate viscosity and capacity to dissolve the usual macro and micronutrients. This paper continue the above studies with the field test for several formulations of foliar nutritive fluids in which growth enhancing functions are carried by amino acids and peptides available in chromium free waste leather hydrolysates. The field test was set-up on an open air experimental lot. The runs have encompassed six products derived from the mixing of hydrolysates with macro and micronutrients and respectively with the other products designed to confer the specific foliar properties against water as blank run. Each product was tested in five replicates on the following varieties of vegetables: tomatoes – Pontica, egg plants – Luiza and green papper – Potop. The results were reported in terms of: fruit production, crop green vegetative mass and crop dry vegetative mass. The best results were observed for the three products coming from the mixing of waste leather hydrolysate solution with urea and micronutrients (B, Zn, Cu, Mo), and respectively with the overbasic potassium naphthenate added for foliar property control in convenient ratios and concentrations.