The multinational specialty minerals company ICL has launched Bioz Kellus, an innovative chelate that also acts as a biostimulant, allowing for faster nutrient uptake and increased plant resistance.
This product represents a departure from traditional fertilizers and focuses not only on the amount of nutrients reaching the soil or leaf, but also on how plants actually use them at the cellular level.
According to Dr. Eduardo Lopes Cancellier, ICL’s biostimulant agronomy specialist, the company is transforming the definition of plant nutrition. “We are moving away from the era of thinking only in kilograms of elements per hectare. Our goal is to maximize the plant’s ability to absorb and utilize nutrients efficiently, while supporting overall health and resilience.”
Traditional chelates usually contain only a fraction of usable nutrients, while the rest of the product is useless to the plant and can accumulate in the environment. Bioz Kellus reverses this model by creating a biologically active and fully biodegradable carrier module. It combines peptide-based molecules with organic acids to release nutrients and trigger biostimulant effects within the plant.
In advanced tests conducted at the Nuclear Energy Center for Agriculture at the University of São Paulo, scientists used synchrotron-based X-ray fluorescence, a cutting-edge technique more common in physics, to track nutrient movement in real time. Results showed that Bioz Kellus accelerated zinc absorption through leaves in only 13 hours, outperforming traditional chelates and insoluble salts.
“Faster nutrient uptake provides greater safety and efficiency for farmers,” Lopes Cancellier said. “Applications are less likely to be affected by rain and plants respond more quickly.””
Field trials also demonstrated protective biostimulant effects. When applied together with glyphosate, the plants showed no signs of typical herbicide damage, and new leaves sprouted green and healthy. Subsequent trials confirmed that Bioz Kellus achieved the highest rate of nutrient redistribution during the first 50 hours, activating the plant’s physiological processes more consistently.
Laboratory testing also confirmed 100% biodegradation in 22 days, which addresses concerns about persistent chelating agents and aligns with greener agricultural inputs and regenerative agriculture.
“Bioz Kellus, which is already patented and marketed in Brazil as a biofertilizer, is set to set new standards in agriculture in terms of safety and performance of chelated micronutrients,” says Lopes Cancellier.
