TY - JOUR
T1 - Effects of Foliar Application of ZnO Nanoparticles on Lentil Production, Stress Level and Nutritional Seed Quality under Field Conditions
AU - Kolenčík, Marek
AU - Ernst, Dávid
AU - Komár, Matej
AU - Urík, Martin
AU - Šebesta, Martin
AU - Ďurišová, L’Uba
AU - Bujdoš, Marek
AU - Černý, Ivan
AU - Chlpík, Juraj
AU - Juriga, Martin
AU - Illa, Ramakanth
AU - Qian, Yu
AU - Feng, Huan
AU - Kratošová, Gabriela
AU - Barabaszová, Karla Čech
AU - Ducsay, Ladislav
AU - Aydın, Elena
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding: This research was funded by the Scientific Grant Agency of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic and the Slovak Academy of Sciences (Vedecká grantová agentúra MŠVVaŠ SR a SAV) under the contracts No. VEGA 1/0747/20, and by the project from the Grant Agency of the Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra No. 04-GASPU-2021.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2022/2/1
Y1 - 2022/2/1
N2 - Nanotechnology offers new opportunities for the development of novel materials and strategies that improve technology and industry. This applies especially to agriculture, and our previous field studies have indicated that zinc oxide nanoparticles provide promising nano-fertilizer dispersion in sustainable agriculture. However, little is known about the precise ZnO-NP effects on legumes. Herein, 1 mg·L−1 ZnO-NP spray was dispersed on lentil plants to establish the direct NP effects on lentil production, seed nutritional quality, and stress response under field conditions. Although ZnO-NP exposure positively affected yield, thousand-seed weight and the number of pods per plant, there was no statistically significant difference in nutrient and anti-nutrient content in treated and untreated plant seeds. In contrast, the lentil water stress level was affected, and the stress response resulted in statistically significant changes in stomatal conductance, crop water stress index, and plant temperature. Foliar application of low ZnO-NP concentrations therefore proved promising in increasing crop production under field conditions, and this confirms ZnO-NP use as a viable strategy for sustainable agriculture.
AB - Nanotechnology offers new opportunities for the development of novel materials and strategies that improve technology and industry. This applies especially to agriculture, and our previous field studies have indicated that zinc oxide nanoparticles provide promising nano-fertilizer dispersion in sustainable agriculture. However, little is known about the precise ZnO-NP effects on legumes. Herein, 1 mg·L−1 ZnO-NP spray was dispersed on lentil plants to establish the direct NP effects on lentil production, seed nutritional quality, and stress response under field conditions. Although ZnO-NP exposure positively affected yield, thousand-seed weight and the number of pods per plant, there was no statistically significant difference in nutrient and anti-nutrient content in treated and untreated plant seeds. In contrast, the lentil water stress level was affected, and the stress response resulted in statistically significant changes in stomatal conductance, crop water stress index, and plant temperature. Foliar application of low ZnO-NP concentrations therefore proved promising in increasing crop production under field conditions, and this confirms ZnO-NP use as a viable strategy for sustainable agriculture.
KW - Essential and beneficial nutrients
KW - Foliar application
KW - Lentil seeds
KW - Nano-fertilizers
KW - Physiological indexes
KW - Zinc oxide nanoparticles
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85122957613&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/nano12030310
DO - 10.3390/nano12030310
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85122957613
SN - 2079-4991
VL - 12
JO - Nanomaterials
JF - Nanomaterials
IS - 3
M1 - 310
ER -