Nanomaterials are used in practically every aspect of modern life, including agriculture. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe2O3 NPs) as a fertilizer to replace traditional Fe fertilizers, which have various shortcomings. The effects of the Fe2O3 NPs and a chelated-Fe fertilizer (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid-Fe; EDTA-Fe) fertilizer on the growth and development of peanut (Arachis hypogaea), a crop that is very sensitive to Fe deficiency, were studied in a pot experiment. The results showed that Fe2O3 NPs increased root length, plant height, biomass, and SPAD values of peanut plants. The Fe2O3 NPs promoted the growth of peanut by regulating phytohormone contents and antioxidant enzyme activity. The Fe contents in peanut plants with Fe2O3 NPs and EDTA-Fe treatments were higher than the control group. We used energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) to quantitatively analyze Fe in the soil. Peanut is usually cultivated in sandy soil, which is readily leached of fertilizers. However, the Fe2O3 NPs adsorbed onto sandy soil and improved the availability of Fe to the plants. Together, these results show that Fe2O3 NPs can replace traditional Fe fertilizers in the cultivation of peanut plants. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first research on the Fe2O3 NPs as the iron fertilizer.

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Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) with three different counterions (H+, Na+, K+) were used to prepare oil-in-water Pickering emulsions with and without salt; their stability to coalescence and resistance to creaming were tested using two oil types (high-polarity corn oil and superlow polarity hexadecane). Without salt, only acid-form CNCs could stabilize corn oil emulsions, whereas the salt-form Na+-CNCs and K+-CNCs failed. None of the CNCs could stabilize hexadecane/water emulsions due to the lack of oil-CNC interactions and strong repulsion between CNCs. However, adding salt masked the differences between the CNC types, and all CNCs could stabilize both corn oil and hexadecane emulsions. Unfortunately, when salt was added, extensive creaming occurred owing to the water-phase density increase and droplet aggregation. The effect of salt concentration and neutralization of CNCs by different methods was also investigated. This work highlights the complex nature of CNC interactions with salts, oils, acids/bases, and other additives, which is relevant for envisioned formulated products for food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical applications and reveals that the choice of CNC counterion does influence emulsion performance.

In this study, headspace solid phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and GC-olfactometry were used to analyze the key aroma compounds in three types of rose-based products, including low-temperature extracts (LTEs), high-temperature extracts (HTEs), and rose drinks (RDs). In combination with the Guadagni theory, it was confirmed that the key aroma components of LTE were β-phenyl ethyl alcohol, citronellol, geraniol, and eugenol. The main aroma compounds in HTE were β-phenyl ethyl alcohol, citronellol, geraniol, eugenol, linalool, and rose oxide. The four key aroma compounds in RDs were β-phenyl ethyl alcohol, eugenol, geraniol, and linalool.

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