Comparison of the Impact of Different Types of nZVI on Lolium westerwoldicum

Abstract

Increasing environmental pollution causes the search for new methods of purification. Currently, the remediation potential of nanoparticles is increasingly being studied. Unfortunately, there is still a lack of data on the impact of these compounds on living organisms, including plants. This study was designed to test the effects of nanoFER 25 and nanoFER 25S iron on Lolium westerwoldicum Breakw. After cultivation of plants in a soil contaminated with nanoparticles, the biometric parameters, content of polyphenols, flavonoids, chlorophyll changes, carotenoids, anthocyanins, superoxide dismutase, catalase and pyrogallol peroxidase were studied. The conducted experiment showed that nano zero-valent iron (nZVI) is slightly taken from the soil to the plants. The iron passes to the root but there is no further transport up the plant. The content of polyphenols and flavonoids in aboveground parts of plants decreases with a simultaneous increase in roots compared to the control sample. The chlorophyll content in the leaves is strongly related to the concentration of the contaminant. Similarly, the enzyme activity of the antioxidant system in the whole plant is strongly related to the concentration of the pollutant. The amount of vegetable pigments in the leaves increases for low concentrations of contamination and then decreases at higher levels of contamination. The study has shown that both types of nanoFER are not indifferent to the plants’ growth.

Nanoparticles as Potential Improvement for Conventional Fertilisation in the Cultivation of Raphanus sativus var. sativus

“…The results were compared with the control plant samples, grown without soil fertilisation. The biometric parameters of plants harvested from differ-ent cultivars (control, Macro or Nano variants) were determined in accordance with the procedure described by Smoli ńska and Szynkowska-Jóźwik (2021) [20].…”

“…The last step of the procedure was the measurement of absorbance at 425 nm. The content of flavonoids was calculated in accordance with the standard curve and results was expressed in mg of quercetin per 1 g of fresh weight of the plant (mg QE g −1 of fresh weight) [20].…”

“…After 4 min, the absorbances were measured at a wavelength of 470 nm. The activity of the enzyme was calculated, based on the difference between the absorbance of samples with H 2 O 2 and samples without H 2 O 2 [mol g −1 fresh weight] [20].…”