Application of Nanoparticles (NPs) to Ameliorate Abiotic Stress in Economically Important Crop Species: a Potential Review

In the face of escalating environmental challenges, the application of nanoparticles (NPs) offers a promising approach to ameliorate abiotic stress in economically important crop species. This review examines the mechanisms by which NPs enhance plant resilience to stressors such as drought, salinity, oxidative stress, heavy metal toxicity, and cold. Stress conditions led to decreased photosynthetic pigments, Zn content, and K⁺ uptake. The generation of NPs has created new opportunities for plants to recover from these abiotic stresses. On the relative water content and water consumption efficiency of plant leaves, NPs improve plant resistance to abiotic stress by increasing antioxidant enzyme activity. It was discovered that silicon, selenium, and iron NPs increased the photosynthetic pigments and total biomass yields of wheat plants stressed by drought, salinity, and cadmium drought, respectively. Furthermore, the application of Fe-NPs significantly enhanced the morphology and development of the plants. When selenium and silicon NPs were added to rice plants under heavy metal toxicity stress conditions, the grain protein content was increased and Pb and Cd concentrations were decreased. Additionally, the NPs made from chitosan, zinc oxide, titanium dioxide, silicon dioxide, copper, silver, and boron can improve the plant growth characteristics and survival rate of these plants under abiotic stress conditions. Despite the benefits, the use of NPs in agriculture raises concerns regarding possible environmental effects and human health safety. Thus, it is important to carefully evaluate the potential toxicity of NPs to non-target organisms as well as their movement and fate in soil and water systems.