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Profiles of arid and semi-arid zones soils of Punjab, northwestern India, were investigated for different forms of iron (Fe)

Nanoparticles (NPs), due to their tailored properties, serve as potential sources of nutrients for the biofortification of edible grains. Chickpeas are a valued legume crop, widely consumed in developing countries. Thus, to improve the Zn and Fe content in chickpeas, a two-year study was conducted to examine the potential of the foliar application of mineral (0.5% Zn and Fe), chelated (0.3% Zn and Fe) and nanoforms (0.5% ZFN) of fertilizers to enhance Zn and Fe content in chickpea. The foliar application of 0.5% ZnO NPs + 0.5% Fe2O3 NPs (ZFN) at the pre-flowering stage showed the highest potential to increase grain yield, Zn and Fe content and their uptake as a single foliar application of nano-fertilizers showed comparable results to two foliar applications of mineral and chelated forms. The grain and straw yield (14.07 and 33.04 q ha−1, respectively) under ZFN treatment was significantly higher over the control (9.20 and 27.49 q ha−1, respectively). A similar trend was observed for Zn and Fe content in grain (42.29 and 86.51 mg kg−1, respectively). For nutrient uptake, ZFN treatment showed the highest uptake of Zn and Fe in grain (604.49 and 1226.22 g ha−1, respectively) and straw (729.55 and 9184.67 g ha−1, respectively). Thus, nano-fertilizers, due to their altered structural properties, demonstrated higher translocation over the mineral and chelated forms of nutrient fertilizers and thus improved yield and nutrient content to a greater extent. Thus, the foliar application of 0.5% ZnO NPs + 0.5% Fe2O3 NPs may prove to be a feasible option for the enrichment of chickpeas with Zn and Fe to ameliorate malnutrition in burgeoning human populations.

Mitochondria were isolated from the scapes of Orobanche cernua. On the basis of comparative studies with four media, a mannitol grinding medium was selected at a slightly alkaline pH and supplemented with EDTA, metabisulphite, BSA and soluble PVP. Various intermediates of the Krebs cycle, pyruvate, glutamate and NADH were oxidized by the isolated particles, though with different efficiencies. The rate of oxidation was steady for every intermediate tested over a 60 min period, except for NADH. In the majority of cases, the oxidation was accompanied by efficient coupling with phosphorylation. Antimycin A led to significant reduction in the oxygen uptake in the presence of succinate and complete suppression of phosphate‐esterification. The amount of protein recovered in the mitochondrial fraction was comparable with the reported recoveries from a number of plant tissues. The biochemical integrity of mitochondria in the particulate fraction appeared possible from: (a) the absence of respiratory response to added cytochrome c during the oxidation of succinate, (b) insignificant oxidation of exogenously added pyruvate in the absence of sparker and (c) the ability to satisfactorily couple phosphorylation to the oxidation of a number of substrates.