Castro Criado, DanielJiménez Rosado, MercedesPérez-Puyana, Víctor ManuelRomero García, Alberto2025-10-092025-10-092025-06-17Castro Criado, D., Jiménez Rosado, M., Pérez-Puyana, V.M. y Romero García, A. (2025). Comparative Assessment of Injection and Compression Molding on Soy Protein Bioplastic Matrices for Controlled Iron Release in Horticulture. Agriculture, 15 (12), 1298.https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture15121298.2077-0472https://hdl.handle.net/11441/177582Conventional horticultural fertilization frequently leads to nutrient loss and environmental contamination, driving interest in biodegradable controlled-release systems. This work developed soy protein isolate (SPI) matrices containing 5 wt.% FeSO4·7H2O using injection. The matrices were evaluated for crosslinking, mechanical properties, water uptake (WUC), soluble matter loss (SML), iron-release kinetics in water and soil, and biodegradability under composting conditions. Injection-molded samples achieved very high crosslinking with moderate rigidity and water absorption and delivered iron rapidly in water, while compression-molded samples exhibited slightly lower crosslinking but greater stiffness, higher WUC, minimal SML, and sustained iron release. Notably, both processing methods yielded comparable iron-release profiles in soil and complete biodegradation within 71 days. Overall, compression molding produces SPI-based matrices with superior mechanical strength and water retention, positioning them as an ideal solution for long-lasting, sustainable nutrient delivery in horticulture.application/pdf17 p.engAttribution 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Soy proteinHorticultureInjection moldingCompression moldingControlled release systemsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttps://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture15121298