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. 2022 Jan 18;12(3):310.
doi: 10.3390/nano12030310.

Effects of Foliar Application of ZnO Nanoparticles on Lentil Production, Stress Level and Nutritional Seed Quality under Field Conditions

Marek Kolenčík  1 , Dávid Ernst  1 , Matej Komár  1 , Martin Urík  2 , Martin Šebesta  2 , Ľuba Ďurišová  3 , Marek Bujdoš  2 , Ivan Černý  1 , Juraj Chlpík  1 , Martin Juriga  1 , Ramakanth Illa  4 , Yu Qian  5 , Huan Feng  6 , Gabriela Kratošová  7 , Karla Čech Barabaszová  7 , Ladislav Ducsay  1 , Elena Aydın  8
Affiliations

Effects of Foliar Application of ZnO Nanoparticles on Lentil Production, Stress Level and Nutritional Seed Quality under Field Conditions

Marek Kolenčík et al. Nanomaterials (Basel). .

Abstract

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.

Keywords: essential and beneficial nutrients; foliar application; lentil seeds; nano-fertilizers; physiological indexes; zinc oxide nanoparticles.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Monthly variations in (a) precipitation, (b) air temperature and (c) hours of sunshine during the 2020 vegetation season at the Hostie Village near Zlaté Moravce in Slovakia.
Figure 1
Figure 1
Monthly variations in (a) precipitation, (b) air temperature and (c) hours of sunshine during the 2020 vegetation season at the Hostie Village near Zlaté Moravce in Slovakia.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Schematic model of lentil growth stages. The red arrow shows the foliar application of 1 mg·L−1 ZnO-NPs, and the green arrows indicate the physiological measured time-intervals to assess lentil development.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(a) Scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) visualized the zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) used for foliar application to the lentils. The left STEM micrograph is bright-field, and dark-field is on the right, and (b) X-ray diffraction analysis shows the zinc oxide nanoparticles have wurtzite-structural symmetry.
Figure 4
Figure 4
X-ray diffraction powder patterns of soil collected at the Hostie experimental locality at Zlaté Moravce in Slovakia; dominant quartz (Q), muscovite (M), chlorite (Ch), calcite (C), dolomite (D) and feldspar (F) minerals.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Seasonal effects of ZnO-NP foliar application on (a) stomatal conductance index (Ig), (b) crop water stress index (CWSI), (c) plant temperature (Tp) and (d) temperature difference (Td) compared to untreated controls (significance: * p-value < 0.05, ** p-value < 0.001).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Average (a) daily air temperature, (b) daily sunshine, and (c) daily precipitation during the entire 106-day lentil vegetation season at the Hostie experimental locality at Zlaté Moravce in Slovakia. This period covered sowing on 20 April 2020 to harvesting on 3 August 2020. The inserted grey markers indicate the measurement day.
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