Application Of Nanotechnology In Agriculture And Food Industry, Its Prospects And Risks

Abstract

Nanoagrochemicals, such as nanopesticides, nanofertilizers or plant growth stimulating nanosystems, were primarily designed to increase solubility, enhance bioavailability, targeted delivery, controlled release and/or protection against degradation resulting in the reduced amount of applied active ingredients and finally in a decrease of dose-dependent toxicity/burden. This paper is a comprehensive up-to-date review related to the preparation and the biological activity of nanoformulations enabling gradual release of active ingredient into weeds and the body of pests and controlled release of nutrients to plants. The attention is also devoted to the decrease of direct environmental burden and economic benefits due to application of nanoformulations, where less amount of active ingredient is needed to achieve the same biological effect in comparison with bulk. The application of nanotechnology in the areas such as food packaging, food security, encapsulation of nutrients and development of new functional products is analysed. The use of nanoparticles in biosensors for detection of pathogens and contaminants as well as in DNA and gene delivery is discussed as well. Benefits and health risks of nanoagrochemicals are highlighted, and special attention is given to nanoecotoxicology and guidelines and regulatory documents related to the use of nanoformulations in agriculture and food industry.

Impact of Calcium Phosphate Nanoparticles on Rice Plant

“…Ultra ine particles are between 1 and 100nm in size. Nanoparticles can serve as magic bullets containing herbicides, chemicals or genes which target plant parts to release the content [2]. In agriculture, fertilizers are very important for plant growth and development, most of the applied fertilizer are rendered unavailable to the plants due to many factors such as leaching, degradation by photolysis, hydrolysis and degradation.…”

Potential of agricultural fungicides for antifungal drug discovery

“…Therefore, fungicides are extensively used in agriculture to control soil borne, seed borne or air borne fungal pathogens. [23,24] Commercial agricultural fungicides are classified according to their target sites by the international Fungicide Resistance Action Committee (FRAC). [25] Based on this FRAC classification, fungicides that can be potentially used as model compounds in drug design were selected and are mentioned in Table 2.…”

Toward a systematic exploration of nano-bio interactions

“…The commercial value of nanotechnology is estimated to be $75Bn by 2020 (Mulvaney and Weiss, 2016). Nanotechnology is now used in diverse industrial applications, (Gurmu and Hazarika, 2011; Coelho et al, 2012; Jampílek and Kráľová, 2015) in biomedicine, (Dykman and Khlebtsov, 2012; Li et al, 2012) and in consumer products, (Wissing and Müller, 2003; Lem et al, 2012) amongst others.…”