Combined effect of gallic acid and zinc ferrite nanoparticles on wheat growth and yield under salinity stress

Abstract

Salinity stress significantly impacts crops, disrupting their water balance and nutrient uptake, reducing growth, yield, and overall plant health. High salinity in soil can adversely affect plants by disrupting their water balance. Excessive salt levels can lead to dehydration, hinder nutrient absorption, and damage plant cells, ultimately impairing growth and reducing crop yields. Gallic acid (GA) and zinc ferrite (ZnFNP) can effectively overcome this problem. GA can promote root growth, boost photosynthesis, and help plants absorb nutrients efficiently. However, their combined application as an amendment against drought still needs scientific justification. Zinc ferrite nanoparticles possess many beneficial properties for soil remediation and medical applications. That's why the current study used a combination of GA and ZnFNP as amendments to wheat. There were 4 treatments, i.e., 0, 10 µM GA, 15 μM GA, and 20 µM GA, without and with 5 μM ZnFNP applied in 4 replications following a completely randomized design. Results exhibited that 20 µM GA + 5 μM ZnFNP caused significant improvement in wheat shoot length (28.62%), shoot fresh weight (16.52%), shoot dry weight (11.38%), root length (3.64%), root fresh weight (14.72%), and root dry weight (9.71%) in contrast to the control. Significant enrichment in wheat chlorophyll a (19.76%), chlorophyll b (25.16%), total chlorophyll (21.35%), photosynthetic rate (12.72%), transpiration rate (10.09%), and stomatal conductance (15.25%) over the control validate the potential of 20 µM GA + 5 μM ZnFNP. Furthermore, improvement in N, P, and K concentration in grain and shoot verified the effective functioning of 20 µM GA + 5 μM ZnFNP compared to control. In conclusion, 20 µM GA + 5 μM ZnFNP can potentially improve the growth, chlorophyll contents and gas exchange attributes of wheat cultivated in salinity stress. More investigations are suggested to declare 20 µM GA + 5 μM ZnFNP as the best amendment for alleviating salinity stress in different cereal crops.

Keywords: Antioxidant; Chlorophyll content; Gallic acid; Growth attributes; Zinc ferrite nanoparticles.

Figure 1

Climatic data of experiment.

Figure 2

Effect of different gallic acid (GA) levels with and without ZnFNP on shoot length, shoot fresh and dry weight of wheat grown with no NP and ZnFNP. The bars showed the mean of 4 replicates with ± SD. Significant changes, denoted by distinct letters on the bars, were identified through the Tukey test at a significance level of p < 0.05.

Figure 3

Effect of different gallic acid (GA) levels with and without ZnFNP on root length, root fresh and dry weight of wheat grown with no NP and ZnFNP. The bars showed the mean of 4 replicates with ± SD. Significant changes, denoted by distinct letters on the bars, were identified through the Tukey test at a significance level of p < 0.05.

Figure 4

Effect of different gallic acid (GA) levels with and without ZnFNP on chlorophyll, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll, and carotenoids of wheat grown with no NP and ZnFNP. The bars showed the mean of 4 replicates with ± SD. Significant changes, denoted by distinct letters on the bars, were identified through the Tukey test at a significance level of p < 0.05.

Figure 5

Effect of different gallic acid (GA) levels with and without ZnFNP on photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, and stomatal conductance of wheat grown with no NP and ZnFNP. The bars showed the mean of 4 replicates with ± SD. Significant changes, denoted by distinct letters on the bars, were identified through the Tukey test at a significance level of p < 0.05.

Figure 6

Effect of different gallic acid (GA) levels with and without ZnFNP on electrolyte leakage, proline, SOD, and CAT of wheat grown with no NP and ZnFNP. The bars showed the mean of 4 replicates with ± SD. Significant changes, denoted by distinct letters on the bars, were identified through the Tukey test at a significance level of p < 0.05.

Figure 7

Effect of different gallic acid (GA) levels with and without ZnFNP on APX, GPX, GR, and GST of wheat grown with No NP and ZnFNP. The bars showed the mean of 4 replicates with ± SD. Significant changes, denoted by distinct letters on the bars, were identified through the Tukey test at a significance level of p < 0.05.

Figure 8

Cluster plot convex hull for treatments (A), NP levels (B), and hierarchical cluster plot (C) for studied attributes.

Figure 9

Pearson correlation analysis of the studied attributes.

Figure 10

UV–Vis absorption spectrum of Trigonella foenum-graecum L. seeds extract-stabilized ZnFe₂O₄ NPs NPs (A). FTIR spectra of pure Trigonella foenum-graecum L. seeds powder and the ligand-stabilized ZnFe₂O₄ NPs (B).