TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Amelio Biotech is testing a novel amino acid chelation technology to combat citrus greening disease, offering hope for global food security as climate change worsens.
The disease, also known as huanglongbing, has devastated orchards from Florida to Taiwan, per CNA. Spread by psyllids, the bacterial infection clogs a tree’s vascular system, starving it of water and nutrients until it dies.
Once orchards are infected, farmers often have no option but to burn them, wiping out production within a few years. The economic impact has been severe in citrus-growing regions across China, India, and the US.
Founded in 2016 by molecular biologist Li I-chen (李怡禛), Amelio is working to shift agriculture away from pesticides toward natural immunity. Li said fertilizers and pesticides may boost yields in the short term but degrade soil and fuel public concern over food safety.
“Plants already have defense mechanisms,” Li said. “They just aren’t activated.” Advances in molecular science show that certain amino acids can trigger genetic defenses, potentially making crops more resilient.
The challenge has been solubility, since amino acids dissolve poorly in water, limiting their use in large-scale farming. Amelio researchers addressed this by binding amino acids with metals to form soluble complexes, a breakthrough called Metal Amino Acid Complex Synthesis (MACS).
The platform activates plant immunity and delivers beneficial metals that suppress pathogens. Using MACS, Amelio developed amino acid chelated fertilizers as an alternative to conventional chemical treatments.
In 2021, the company conducted its first orchard trial in Hsinchu’s Guanxi Township, where citrus trees infected with huanglongbing showed improved resilience. Encouraged by the results, Amelio expanded to other crops.
This year, the firm began working with National Taiwan University professor Cheng Chiu-ping (鄭秋萍) to test the fertilizers against bacterial wilt and soft rot in tomatoes, diseases that threaten more than 400 plant species and lack effective chemical controls.
“Amelio Biotech’s products showed pathogen-inhibiting effects in culture media,” Cheng said. “If confirmed in field trials, this could be a major step for Taiwan’s agricultural biotech industry.”
