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Wheat is the majorly cultivated staple crop worldwide. The world witnesses a great percentage of yield loss of wheat due to drought stress. The present study aimed at evaluating the efficacy of phytosynthesized iron oxide nanoparticles (FeONPs) in contributing to drought resilience in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under rain-fed conditions. FeONPs were biosynthesized by using leaf extract of Prosopis cineraria as a reducing and capping agent. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized to evaluate its structural and biochemical aspects. The FeONPs were found to be irregularly spherical in shape with a mean size of 42.6 nm. The concentration of nanoparticles in the sample was found to be 164.01 mg/L. An experimental set up was laid out in a randomized-plot design with 3 replications for Rabi season 2020-2021. Five dosages of nanoparticles were prepared as 12.5, 25, 50, 75 and 100 ppm from the stock solution. The wheat crop varieties grown in the field were subjected to a total of 3 treatments; Nanopriming, foliar application of FeONPs at seedling development stage (20 DAS), and tillering stage (30 DAS). Plants that were not treated with NPs were considered as control. No irrigation regime was followed as the effect of NPs on the crop was to be assessed under rain-fed conditions only. Plant growth parameters were recorded. The obtained results revealed that the application of FeONPs positively affected all the morphological and yield attributes in the wheat crop. The highest concentrations used were found to be most effective and showed a significantly pronounced effect as compared to the control at p≤0.05. The study concluded that the FeONPs can contribute to drought resilience in wheat.

The present study is carried out to establish the biofortification of zinc in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) plants through the application of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs). The mycogenic ZnONPs are synthesized by using Aspergillus flavus biomass and characterized to ascertain the size, shape, and concentration of synthesized nanoparticles. The ZnONPs are applied by foliar spray to the field-grown potato and tomato crops and the biofortification level is recorded by Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS). A nanotoxicity assessment is done by comparing the amount of cell death and accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in control and ZnONPs treated plants. The AAS analysis reveals significant accumulation of the zinc in leaves of potato plants but insignificant accumulation is observed in the tubers. However, a significant accumulation of zinc is observed in the leaves and fruits of the tomato plants (p ≤ 0.05). The nanotoxicity evaluation studies show comparable and statistically insignificant toxicity in control plants as compared to plants treated with ZnONPs. The study concludes that biofortification through the means of ZnONPs is a cost-effective and eco-friendly approach that can be used as an alternative to the hazardous chemical zinc fertilizers.

The present study is carried to establish and compare the mycogenic silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) synthesizing ability of two fungi, Aspergillus niger and Fusarium pallidoroseum. A 2 mM solution of silver nitrate and zinc nitrate hexahydrate is used as the precursor solution for the synthesis of silver and zinc oxide nanoparticles respectively using 1 g and 100 mg fungal biomass per 100 mL of the precursor solution. The synthesis of nanoparticles is preliminarily confirmed by UV-Vis Spectroscopy and further characterization is done through the Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), Energy Dispersive X-Ray (EDX), Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR), and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICPMS) to characterize the nanoparticles in terms of shape, size, and concentration. The particles synthesized by using 100 mg fungal biomass are much agglomerated and bulky in size. The study concludes that 1 g F. pallidoroseum biomass showed much efficacy toward synthesizing fine-sized ZnONPs as compared to A. niger, whereas, although the AgNPs synthesized by A. niger are more monodispersed with least agglomeration, the efficacy of A. niger and F. pallidoroseum is found to be mostly comparable in synthesizing AgNPs.