In the current scenario, it is an urgent requirement to satisfy the nutritional demands of the rapidly growing global population. Using conventional farming, nearly one-third of the crops get damaged mainly due to pest infestation, microbial attacks, natural disasters, poor soil quality, and lesser nutrient availability. More innovative technologies are immediately required to overcome these issues. In this regard, nanotechnology has contributed to the agrotechnological revolution that has imminent potential to reform the resilient agricultural system, while promising food security. Therefore, nanoparticles are becoming a new-age material to transform modern agricultural practices. The variety of nanoparticles-based formulations, including, nano-sized pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, fertilizers, and sensors, have been widely investigated for plant health management and soil improvement. In-depth understanding of plant and nanomaterial interactions opens new avenues towards improving crop practices through increased properties like disease resistance, crop yield, and nutrient utilization. In this review, we highlight the critical points to address the current nanotechnology-based agricultural research that could benefit productivity and food security in future.

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Nanoparticle-Based Sustainable Agriculture and Food Science: Recent Advances and Future Outlook

This review presents a perspective on the research trends and solutions from recent years in the domain of antimicrobial packaging materials. The antibacterial, antifungal, and antioxidant activities can be induced by the main polymer used for packaging or by addition of various components from natural agents (bacteriocins, essential oils, natural extracts, etc.) to synthetic agents, both organic and inorganic (Ag, ZnO, TiO2 nanoparticles, synthetic antibiotics etc.). The general trend for the packaging evolution is from the inert and polluting plastic waste to the antimicrobial active, biodegradable or edible, biopolymer film packaging. Like in many domains this transition is an evolution rather than a revolution, and changes are coming in small steps. Changing the public perception and industry focus on the antimicrobial packaging solutions will enhance the shelf life and provide healthier food, thus diminishing the waste of agricultural resources, but will also reduce the plastic pollution generated by humankind as most new polymers used for packaging are from renewable sources and are biodegradable. Polysaccharides (like chitosan, cellulose and derivatives, starch etc.), lipids and proteins (from vegetal or animal origin), and some other specific biopolymers (like polylactic acid or polyvinyl alcohol) have been used as single component or in blends to obtain antimicrobial packaging materials. Where the package’s antimicrobial and antioxidant activities need a larger spectrum or a boost, certain active substances are embedded, encapsulated, coated, grafted into or onto the polymeric film. This review tries to cover the latest updates on the antimicrobial packaging, edible or not, using as support traditional and new polymers, with emphasis on natural compounds.

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Biodegradable Antimicrobial Food Packaging: Trends and Perspectives

Medicinal and aromatic plants have been used by mankind since ancient times. This is primarily due to their healing effects associated with their specific secondary metabolites (some of which are also used as drugs in modern medicine), or their structures, served as a basis for the development of new effective synthetic drugs. One way to increase the production of these secondary metabolites is to use nanoparticles that act as elicitors. However, depending on the specific particle size, composition, concentration, and route of application, nanoparticles may have several other benefits on medicinal and aromatic plants (e.g., increased plant growth, improved photosynthesis, and overall performance). On the other hand, particularly at applications of high concentrations, they are able to damage plants mechanically, adversely affect morphological and biochemical characteristics of plants, and show cytotoxic and genotoxic effects. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the beneficial and adverse effects of metal-, metalloid-, and carbon-based nanoparticles on the germination, growth, and biochemical characteristics of a wide range of medicinal and aromatic plants, including the corresponding mechanisms of action. The positive impact of nanopriming and application of nanosized fertilizers on medicinal and aromatic plants is emphasized. Special attention is paid to the effects of various nanoparticles on the production of valuable secondary metabolites in these plants cultivated in hydroponic systems, soil, hairy root, or in vitro cultures. The beneficial impact of nanoparticles on the alleviation of abiotic stresses in medicinal and aromatic plants is also discussed.

Responses of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants to Engineered Nanoparticles

Effects of ZnO nanoparticles and its bulk form on growth, antioxidant defense system and expression of oxidative stress related genes in Hordeum vulgare L.

Effects of ZnO nanoparticles and its bulk form on growth, antioxidant defense system and expression of oxidative stress related genes in Hordeum vulgare L

The extensive use of nanoparticles (NPs) in various industrial and household products pose a threat of their release into the environment. Plants being sessile are prone to be directly affected by ...

A comparative study of phytotoxic effects of metal oxide (CuO, ZnO and NiO) nanoparticles on in-vitro grown Abelmoschus esculentus

DNA barcoding provides a rapid, accurate, and standardized method for species level identification using short DNA sequences. Such a standardized identification method is useful for mapping all the species on Earth as DNA sequencing technology has become cheaper now. Using this technique, it is possible to map the Earth’s immense biodiversity resources, and entries can enrich the databases (DB). Hence, in this review all the available DNA barcode databases have been reviewed for its promises and limitations. The important DNA barcode databases are International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration (INSDC), Barcode of Life Database (BOLD), BioBarcode, Medicinal Materials DNA Barcode Database (MMDBD), Herbarium of Med Plants of India, and PLANTS Database. All these DBs possess a vast number of specimen entries and also help in understanding their genetic relationships and evolution. Some databases also contain a chromatogram viewer, which helps the DNA sequence analysis. These barcode database servers provide bioinformatics tools as one stop solution. It promotes the rapid acquisition of biological species and to reach global standards in the aspects of standardization, depository, management, and analysis.

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2F978-3-319-90680-5_11.pdf

Selvaraj Dhivya

Papers

A comparative study of phytotoxic effects of metal oxide (CuO, ZnO and NiO) nanoparticles on in-vitro grown Abelmoschus esculentus

DNA Databases: Promises and Limitations for Plant DNA Barcoding