Controlled and Prolonged Release Systems of Urea from Micro‐ and Nanomaterials as an Alternative for Developing a Sustainable Agriculture: A Review

Abstract

The world population requires the increase of food products from agricultural fields and also the improvement of agricultural practices to avoid the environmental pollution. Urea is the most used fertilizer worldwide; however, it is lost to the environment by processes such as leaching, volatilization, and denitrification. As an alternative to avoid these losses, controlled-release fertilizer (CRF) and prolonged release fertilizer (PRF) have been proposed. With this type of system, the plants could take the necessary amount of nutrients for their growth at the same time decreasing the environmental pollution. These systems could be fabricated from both synthetic and natural sources, such as wheat gluten proteins, polysaccharides, and composites (polymeric matrix, wheat-gluten-urea mix, among others). This review gives a sustainable agriculture approach in the application of CRF and PRF using inorganic and organic raw materials, focusing on the use of wheat gluten proteins and urea for the development of these systems.

Photoinduced Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy for the Ultrasensitive Detection of a Low-Cross-Section Chemical, Urea, Using Silver–Titanium Dioxide Nanostructures

“…In industry, it is used to produce cleaning products. As a result, a high amount of urea has been released into the aquatic environment, including both surface water and groundwater, every year . More dangerously, urea has been added illegally into dairy products to inflate the protein contents .…”

“…As a result, a high amount of urea has been released into the aquatic environment, including both surface water and groundwater, every year. 24 More dangerously, urea has been added illegally into dairy products to inflate the protein contents. 25 Excessive amounts of urea in water and milk may cause kidney diseases in human.…”

Rhodium‐Based Nanozymes: Recent Advances and Challenges

“…[52] High levels of urea in the environment can cause damage to human skin and crops, and low levels can cause soil erosion. [53] So, it is essential to test the urea level. Currently, urea is mainly measured by the urease coupling method, but the operation is time-consuming and affected by the ammonia in body fluids.…”

“…A high level of urea in the body means that kidney function may be reduced; a low level means malnutrition [52] . High levels of urea in the environment can cause damage to human skin and crops, and low levels can cause soil erosion [53] . So, it is essential to test the urea level.…”

Antineoplastic and Cytotoxic Evaluation of Green AgNPs and Crude Extracts from Agave americana, Mentha spicata, and Mangifera indica Leaves

“…Nanoparticles are normally in the range of 1-100 nm. The main interest in the field of nanoparticles is due to their different size, morphophonology area volume relation, and properties which are utilized in various fields including food, medical, and health [16][17][18]. Herewith, we designed the study to investigate the antineoplastic prospects and cellular toxicity of AgNPs and crude extracts (ethanol, methanol, aqueous, and acetone) from aerial parts (leaves) of Mangifera indica, Agave americana, and Mentha spicata.…”