Fertilizing benefits of biogenic phosphorous nanonutrients on Solanum lycopersicum in soils with variable pH

Ayushi Priyam; Natasha Yadav; Pallavolu M Reddy; Luis O B Afonso; Aaron G Schultz; Pushplata Prasad Singh

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e09144

Fertilizing benefits of biogenic phosphorous nanonutrients on Solanum lycopersicum in soils with variable pH

Heliyon. 2022 Mar 19;8(3):e09144. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e09144. eCollection 2022 Mar.

Authors

Ayushi Priyam^{1

2}, Natasha Yadav^{1

2}, Pallavolu M Reddy^{1

2}, Luis O B Afonso², Aaron G Schultz², Pushplata Prasad Singh^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ National Centre of Excellence for Advanced Research in Agricultural Nanotechnology, TERI - Deakin Nanobiotechnology Centre, Sustainable Agriculture Division, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), DS Block, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, 110003, India.
² School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, 3217, Australia.

Abstract

Nanoformulations of Phosphorous (P) have recently been proposed as alternatives to P fertilizers. In this study, the fertilizing efficacies of P-based nanomaterials (NMs), nanohydroxyapatite (nHAP) and nanophosphorus (nP), were examined on Solanum lycopersicum (Pusa Rohini, Indian tomato) in growth room pot experiments. These NMs differed in their mode of synthesis, chemical composition, size and shape. Rock-phosphate (RP), phosphoric acid (PA) and di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) were included as bulk materials for comparison. Three varieties of artificial soils were included in the study, neutral (pH 7.2), acidic (pH 4.3) and basic (pH 9.8). The effects of the NMs on germination, plant growth, and P content were assessed at the 15^th and 30^th days after treatment. The results showed that P-based NMs enhance the overall germination and plant growth by increasing P levels in all types of soils for the tomato plants in comparison to the bulk P sources. Analysis using X-ray fluorescence revealed enhanced P content in the plants indicating the uptake of P-based NMs. Evaluation of H₂O₂, total phenolics and total flavonoids contents after NM treatment suggest that there is no stress caused due to the application of NMs to the plant. The results of this study indicate the beneficial role of P-based NMs as fertilizers at the early stages of plant development, which opens a scope for further investigation of underlying metabolic and molecular pathways and field trials.

Keywords: Nanofertilizers; Nanohydroxyapatite; Nanophosphorus; Soil chemistry; Tomato.