Insight into the Prospects for Nanotechnology in Wheat Biofortification

Abstract

The deficiency of nutrients in food crops is a major issue affecting the health of human beings, mainly in underdeveloped areas. Despite the development in the methods of food fortification, several barriers such as lack of proper regulations and smaller public-private partnerships hinder its successful implementation in society. Consequently, genetic and agronomic biofortification has been suggested as the potential techniques for fortifying the nutrients in diets. However, the time-consuming nature and restricted available diversity in the targeted crop gene pool limit the benefits of genetic biofortification. In agronomic biofortification, organic fertilizers face the problem of prolonged duration of nutrients release and lesser content of minerals; while in inorganic fertilizers, the large-sized fertilizers (greater than 100 nm) suffer from volatilization and leaching losses. The application of nanotechnology in agriculture holds enormous potential to cope with these challenges. The utility of nanomaterials for wheat biofortification gains its importance by supplying the appropriate dose of fertilizer at the appropriate time diminishing the environmental concerns and smoothening the process of nutrient uptake and absorption. Wheat is a major crop whose nano-biofortification can largely handle the issue of malnutrition and nutrients deficiency in human beings. Though several research experiments have been conducted at small levels to see the effects of nano-biofortification on wheat plants, a review article providing an overview of such studies and summarizing the benefits and outcomes of wheat nano-biofortification is still lacking. Although a number of review articles are available on the role of nanotechnology in wheat crop, these are mostly focused on the role of nanoparticles in alleviating biotic and abiotic stress conditions in wheat. None of them focused on the prospects of nanotechnology for wheat biofortification. Hence, in this review for the first time, the current advancement in the employment of different nanotechnology-based approaches for wheat biofortification has been outlined. Different strategies including the supply of nano-based macro- and micronutrients that have shown promising results for wheat improvement have been discussed in detail. Understanding several aspects related to the safe usage of nanomaterials and their future perspectives may enhance their successful utilization in terms of economy and fulfillment of nutritional requirements following wheat nano-biofortification.

Small-Sized Nanophosphorus Has a Positive Impact on the Performance of Fenugreek Plants under Soil-Water Deficit Stress: A Case Study under Field Conditions

“…This positive finding required positive modulations in RWC, MSI, PhPiC, LSPC, and LSAnF, along with further improvements in OPrSC, TrigC, AsA, GSH, AAc, PhCC, and FlaC, which were already achieved through foliar nourishment with nP ( Table 3 , Table 4 , Table 5 , Table 6 , Table 7 , Table 8 , Table 9 and Table 10 ). These results are consistent with those obtained previously [ 10 , 16 , 24 , 37 , 39 , 46 , 47 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 ].…”

“…The use of nanophosphorus (nP) has remarkable enhancing effects on plant growth and production by improving physio-biochemical indices and antioxidant defense strategies as a result of relieving abiotic stress. Foliar nourishment with nP noticeably improves growth, yields, leaf chlorophyll, photosynthetic efficiency, membrane stability index, relative water content, various antioxidant activities, P content, and various osmo-regulatory compounds in Phaseolus vulgaris and Triticum aestivum plants [ 24 , 46 ]. Since P is an essential component of amino acids, high-energy molecules (ADP and ATP), nucleic acids, and phospholipids in plants [ 47 ], it is, therefore, a pivotal nutrient essential for plant growth, development, and reproduction.…”

Nanofertilizer Possibilities for Healthy Soil, Water, and Food in Future: An Overview

“…NFs may help to moderate the adverse impacts of synthetic fertilizers (Rajput et al, 2021a ) with the added advantage to compensate nutritional deficiencies to allow the plants to develop normally (Bernal et al, 2007 ; Baloch et al, 2008 ), as shown in Supplementary Table 1 . The nutrient shortage in soils may pose threat to soil profile by lowering nutritional elements for agricultural crops (Khan et al, 2021 ). Fertilizers are used in large amounts to boost agricultural yield, although more macronutrients are unavailable to plants (Zulfiqar et al, 2019 ).…”

Wheat Biofortification: Utilizing Natural Genetic Diversity, Genome-Wide Association Mapping, Genomic Selection, and Genome Editing Technologies

“…Recently, nano-technology has also been explored for micronutrient biofortification in wheat. Khan et al ( 41 ) have extensively reviewed the status of nano formulation-based wheat biofortification with a critical analysis of its merits and demerits.…”