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This report investigates the spraying of nano-silica and fullerene on cucumber leaves to expose their ability to reduce the toxicity and uptake of metal(loid)s. Cucumber seedlings were randomly divided into six treatment groups: 10 mg/L nano-SiO 2 , 20 mg/L nano-SiO 2 , 10 mg/L Fullerene, 20 mg/L Fullerene, 5 mg/L Fullerene + 5 mg/L nano-SiO 2 , and 10 mg/L Fullerene + 10 mg/L nano-SiO 2. Nano-silica-treated plants exhibited evidence of the potential mitigation of metal(loid)s poisoning. Specifically, results showed that 20 mg/L of nano-silica promoted Cd uptake by plants; comparatively, 10 mg/L of nano-silica did not significantly increase the silicon content in plants. Both low-concentration combined treatment and low-concentration fullerene groups inhibited metal(loid)s uptake by plants. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was then used to observe the surface morphology of cucumber leaves. Significant differences were observed on disease resistance in plants across the different nano-material conditions. Collectively, these findings suggest that both nano-silica materials and fullerene have the potential to control metal(loid)s toxicity in plants.

About 45% of the world’s fruit and vegetables are wasted, resulting in postharvest losses and contributing to economic losses ranging from $10 billion to $100 billion worldwide. Soft rot disease caused by Rhizopus stolonifer leads to postharvest storage losses of sweet potatoes. Nanoscience stands as a new tool in our arsenal against these mounting challenges that will restrict efforts to achieve and maintain global food security. In this study, three nanomaterials (NMs) namely C60, CuO, and TiO2 were evaluated for their potential application in the restriction of Rhizopus soft rot disease in two cultivars of sweet potato (Y25, J26). CuO NM exhibited a better antifungal effect than C60 and TiO2 NMs. The contents of three important hormones, indolepropionic acid (IPA), gibberellic acid 3 (GA-3), and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) in the infected J26 sweet potato treated with 50 mg/L CuO NM were significantly higher than those of the control by 14.5%, 10.8%, and 24.1%. CuO and C60 NMs promoted antioxidants in both cultivars of sweet potato. Overall, CuO NM at 50 mg/L exhibited the best antifungal properties, followed by TiO2 NM and C60 NM, and these results were further confirmed through scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis. The use of CuO NMs as an antifungal agent in the prevention of Rhizopus stolonifer infections in sweet potatoes could greatly reduce postharvest storage and delivery losses.