Molecules (Mar 2020)

Effects of the Morphology, Surface Modification and Application Methods of ZnO-NPs on the Growth and Biomass of Tomato Plants

  • Eneida A. Pérez Velasco,
  • Rebeca Betancourt Galindo,
  • Luis A. Valdez Aguilar,
  • José A. González Fuentes,
  • Bertha A. Puente Urbina,
  • Samuel A. Lozano Morales,
  • Saúl Sánchez Valdés

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25061282
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 25, no. 6
p. 1282

Abstract

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Benefits of nanotechnology in agriculture include reduced fertilizer loss, improved seed germination rate and increased crops quality and yield. The objective of this research was to evaluate the effects of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs), at 1500 ppm, on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) growth. ZnO-NPs were synthetized to produce either spherical or hexagonal morphologies. In this research, we also studied two application methods (foliar and drench) and nanoparticles’ (NPs) surface modification with maltodextrin. The results obtained indicate that ZnO-NP-treated tomato plants significantly increased plant height, stem diameter and plant organs (leaves, stem and root) dry weight compared to plants without NP treatment.

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