For research teams, the challenge isn’t just developing new biosolutions, it’s proving their effects under real field conditions. Traditional lab analyses can provide precision, but they’re often slow, expensive, and limited in scope. That’s where Gaïago, a Saint-Malo–based company specializing in microorganism-based biostimulants, saw an opportunity. In early 2025, Adrien Larrans, Technical Lead for Microorganisms, began using Nutriscope™ to strengthen the team’s R&D trials, turning field observations into measurable, data-driven insights.
Nutriscope, in our R&D context, opens new perspectives and helps us refine our trials
Adrien Larrans, Technical Lead, Gaïago (France)
Adrien, how did you discover Nutriscope?
It actually started by chance, a colleague forwarded me a newsletter mentioning Nutriscope. The timing was perfect.We were looking for a way to better track mineral elements in plants without depending solely on lab analyses. Those are costly and limited in repetition, which reduces result reliability. The idea of a field-ready device capable of generating many more data points immediately caught our attention.
How are you using it today?
We’ve used Nutriscope mainly on maize, and occasionally on vine.
On vine, results are a bit more variable because the leaves are veined and harder to clamp, but even then we observed differences consistent with our hypotheses, especially in fertilizer trials.
What role does it play in your R&D?
At Gaïago, we develop microbial biostimulants and test combinations with organic fertilizers. Nutriscope has become a central tool to evaluate our products. On organic fertilizers, the differences between treatments are immediately visible. On probiotics, effects are smaller than with fertilizers, but in over 90% of cases we observe benefits, especially for ammonium.
In greenhouse and pot trials, effects are even clearer, with increases exceeding +15% for ammonium and calcium, and many statistically significant results. These results help us characterize our probiotics more precisely and identify new parameters of interest, such as sulfur, calcium, and zinc.
What advantages and limits have you found?
Compared with laboratory analyses, Nutriscope is easier to use, far more cost-efficient, and provides a greater volume of consistent, in-field data through quick, non-destructive leaf measurements.
Its main limitation in R&D use is methodological. We prefer to work in experimental mode, doing one scan per measurement, about 60 per treatment, then sorting and analyzing statistically. It’s more time-consuming but also more precise.
Another challenge is data interpretation, it takes practice to avoid premature conclusions.
What has Nutriscope changed for Gaïago?
Previously, we had to limit dry matter analyses, which cost €50–100 ($58 - $116 USD) each depending on elements. With Nutriscope, we can multiply measurements without blowing the budget, generating a much richer dataset. This has revealed new levers of action, for example on nitrogen and zinc, two key areas we’ll focus on next year.
In summary
Nutriscope is a great tool for exploring what’s happening in the plant at a specific moment. In our R&D context, it opens new perspectives and helps us refine our trials.
Adrien Larrans, Technical Lead for Microorganisms, Gaïago