A May 17, 2025 Nanowerk Spotlight article by Raja muthuramalingam thangavelu of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES), highlights research into methods for adapting plants to a changing climate, Note 1: I have found multiple spellings for the author’s name including this version on the research paper (Raja muthuramalingam Thangavelu); Note 2: Links have been removed,
Researchers at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES) are at the forefront of sustainable agriculture, leveraging nanotechnology to address the growing challenges of climate change. One of their studies introduced a novel multielement (Zn–Mg–Mn–Fe) nanocomposite that significantly enhances UV stress tolerance and nutrient accumulation in lettuce. This innovative approach addresses a critical challenge in agriculture, where UV radiation can reduce crop yields by up to 50% in extreme conditions.
By integrating key micronutrients with UV-absorbing nanoparticles, this nanocomposite not only protects plants from harmful UV radiation but also optimizes nutrient uptake, potentially transforming agricultural practices for better crop resilience, higher productivity, and improved food security. This dual-function nanosunscreen has the potential to reduce the need for chemical fertilizers, lower the carbon footprint of farming, and improve the sustainability of agricultural systems.
Graphical Abstract. (Image: Generated using BioRender.com, courtesy of the authors) [downloaded from https://www.nanowerk.com/spotlight/spotid=66828.php]
Introduction
As climate change intensifies, agricultural crops are increasingly exposed to environmental stressors like ultraviolet (UV) radiation, which can severely impact plant growth, reduce photosynthetic efficiency, and lower crop yields. This is particularly critical in regions like Australia, southern Europe, and parts of the United States, where intense UV radiation is a constant challenge for farmers.
In countries like Spain and Italy, known for their high-value tomato and grape industries, UV stress can significantly impact crop quality and yield. Similarly, California’s Central Valley, one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world, faces increasing UV exposure due to changing climate patterns. In response to this challenge, our research team developed a multifunctional nanocomposite containing zinc (Zn), magnesium (Mg), manganese (Mn), and iron (Fe), designed to protect plants from UV-induced damage while enhancing nutrient accumulation.
Nanosunscreen Technology for Plants
The nanocomposite leverages the unique properties of Zn, Mg, Mn, and Fe to create a highly effective UV shield. Zinc acts as a core UV blocker, while magnesium supports chlorophyll function, manganese aids in photosynthetic oxygen evolution, and iron facilitates electron transport. These elements are incorporated into a nanoscale matrix, allowing for controlled nutrient release and improved foliar adhesion. This design not only reduces the harmful effects of UV radiation but also promotes sustainable nutrient delivery, enhancing plant growth and stress tolerance.
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Key Findings
Our experiments showed that lettuce treated with this nanocomposite exhibited up to 66.7% higher chlorophyll content, 45% greater leaf area, and 43.68% more dry biomass compared to untreated controls. Additionally, UV-induced oxidative damage was reduced by over 70%, highlighting the potential of this technology to improve crop resilience in challenging environments.
The composite also demonstrated superior nutrient uptake, with plants absorbing up to 220 mg/kg of magnesium within 4 days, along with significant long-term increases in Mn, Fe, and Zn uptake. These findings underscore the potential of nanoscale agriculture to address the dual challenges of nutrient deficiency and environmental stress, offering a promising path toward more resilient crop systems.
Real-World Applications and Future Perspectives
The potential applications of this nanosunscreen technology extend beyond lettuce, potentially benefiting a wide range of high-value crops that are sensitive to UV stress, including tomatoes, grapes, and leafy greens. This approach could play a critical role in improving food security and sustainability as global climate conditions continue to change. Additionally, integrating this nanocomposite into smart agriculture systems could enable precision nutrient delivery, reduce chemical fertilizer use, and minimize the environmental footprint of modern farming.
Looking ahead, the authors plan to extend this research by integrating cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) into the nanocomposite matrix. This approach aims to enhance the mechanical strength, UV shielding, and biocompatibility of the formulation, creating a more versatile nanosunscreen suitable for a broader range of crops. CNCs, known for their high tensile strength and natural origin, could significantly improve the long-term stability and UV absorption efficiency of these composites, making them an even more effective tool for climate-resilient agriculture.
An October 15, 2024 news item on phys.org highlights research into soil remediation, Note: A link has been removed,
One of the pressing problems that the world faces in the era of climate change is how to grow enough healthy food to meet the increasing global population, even as soil contamination rises. Research recently published in Nature Food by an international team of scientists led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Guangdong University of Technology, and Central South University of Forestry and Technology, has shown that nutrients on the nanometer scale can not only blunt some of the worst effects of heavy metal and metalloid contamination, but increase crop yields and nutrient content.
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Caption: Nanomaterials can enter plants through above-ground tissues and root tissues. Soil rhizosphere microorganisms, soil particles, organic matter and rhizosphere deposits can also influence NM uptake in plants. Credit: 10.1038/s43016-024-01063-1 Courtesy of University of Massachusetts Amherst
“Much of the world’s arable soil is contaminated by heavy metals, like cadmium, lead and mercury, as well as metalloids, like arsenic and selenium,” says Baoshan Xing, University Distinguished Professor and director of the Stockbridge School of Agriculture at UMass Amherst. Xing, who is also the paper’s senior author, notes that such contamination puts severe stress on the ability to grow staple crops, which also affects the nutritional value of the crops that manage to survive. “We need to come up with solutions to reduce the heavy metals that wind up in our food,” says Xing, and one approach that has shown promise is the use of nutrients at nanoscale, or what he calls a “nano-enabled” agriculture.
The bulk fertilizers that you may be more familiar with are made up of large particles, which aren’t as readily absorbed by the crop. This means that farmers need to apply more, which then increases the levels of fertilizer runoff into streams, lakes and the ocean. However, crop nutrients at the nanometer scale can be specifically designed and mixed for particular crops, growing conditions and application methods, and engineered so that the target plant can most efficiently absorb the nutrients into its system, cutting down on the amount of fertilizer needed, keeping costs down and limiting runoff.
Though nanomaterials are already available on the agricultural market and have plenty of peer-reviewed science looking at their effect on the soil and crop growth, Xing and his colleagues’ research is the first comprehensive account of the effectiveness of nanomaterials as a class, with results that offer practical insights to help steer sustainable agriculture and global food safety.
“We collected data from 170 previous publications on the effectiveness of nanoparticles in reducing heavy metal and metalloid uptake,” says Chuanxin Ma, the paper’s co-lead author who completed his doctoral training at UMass Amherst’s Stockbridge School of Agriculture and is now a professor at China’s Guangdong University of Technology. “From those 170 papers, we collected 8,585 experimental observations of how plants respond to nanomaterials.”
The team then conducted a meta-analysis on this enormous trove of data, running it through a series of machine-learning models to quantify the effect of nanomaterials on crop growth and metal and metalloid uptake, before finally testing a flexible quantitative approach, known as the “IVIF-TOPSIS-EW method,” that can illuminate how to choose different types of nanomaterials according to a range of realistic agricultural scenarios.
The results show that nanomaterials are more effective than conventional fertilizers at mitigating the harmful effects of polluted soil (by 38.3%), can enhance crop yields (by 22.8%) and the nutritional value of those crops (by 30%), as well as combat plant stress (by 21.6%) due to metal and metalloid pollution. Nanomaterials also help increase soil enzymes and organic carbon, both of which help drive soil fertility.
“Of course, nanomaterials are not a silver bullet,” explains Xing. “They need to be applied in distinct ways based on the individual crop and soil.” Which is where the team’s IVIF-TOPSIS-EW method comes into play. “Our method can help policy makers choose the best course of action for their particular situation,” says Ma.
Yini Cao from Central South University of Forestry and Technology also contributed greatly to collecting and analyzing the data in this work.
This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the United States National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA).
A July 23, 2024 news item on Nanowerk provides an introduction to nanoparticles and their potential use in agriculture, Note: Links have been removed,
Nanoparticles could potentially help address agricultural and environmental sustainability issues on a global scale.
Those issues include rising food demand, increasing greenhouse gas emissions generated by agricultural activities, climbing costs of agrochemicals, reducing crop yields induced by climate change, and degrading soil quality. A class of nanoscale particles called “nanocarriers” could make crop agriculture more sustainable and resilient to climate change, according to a group of specialists that includes Kurt Ristroph, assistant professor of agricultural and biological engineering at Purdue University.
“Saying ‘nanoparticle’ means different things to different people,” Ristroph said. In nanodrug delivery, a nanoparticle usually ranges in size from 60 to 100 nanometers and is made of lipids or polymers. “In the environmental world, a nanoparticle usually means a 3- to 5-nanometer metal oxide colloid. Those are not the same thing, but people use ‘nanoparticle’ for both.”
Ristroph helped organize a 2022 interdisciplinary workshop on nanomethods for drug delivery in plants. Funded by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the workshop was attended by 30 participants from academia, industry and government laboratories.
Many of the workshop participants, including Ristroph, have now published their conclusions in Nature Nanotechnology (“Towards realizing nano-enabled precision delivery in plants”). Their article reviews the possibility nanocarriers could make crop agriculture more sustainable and resilient to climate change.
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A July 23, 2024 Purdue University news release (also on EurekAlert but published July 19, 2024) by Steve Koppes, which originated the news item, delves further into the topic of how agriculture could be made more sustainable with nanotechnology-enabled delivery methods, Note: Links have been removed,
“Nano-enabled precision delivery of active agents in plants will transform agriculture, but there are critical technical challenges that we must first overcome to realize the full range of its benefits,” said the article’s co-lead author Greg Lowry, the Walter J. Blenko, Sr. Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. “I’m optimistic about the future of plant nanobiotechnology approaches and the beneficial impacts it will have on our ability to sustainably produce food.”
Plant cells and human cells have major physiological differences. Plant cells have a cell wall while human cells don’t, for example. But certain tools can be transferred from nanomedicine to plant applications.
“People have developed tools for studying the bio-corona formation around nanoparticles in an animal. We could think about bringing some of those tools to bear on nanoparticles in plants,” Ristroph said.
When nanoparticles are injected into the bloodstream, many components of the blood stick onto the surface of the nanoparticles. The various proteins sticking to a nanoparticle’s surface make it look different.
The task then becomes figuring out what proteins or other molecules will stick to the surface and where the particle will go as a result. A nanoparticle designed to move toward a certain organ may have its destination altered by white blood cells that detect the particle’s surface proteins and send it to a different organ.
“Broadly speaking, that’s the idea of bio-corona formation and trafficking,” Ristroph said. “People in drug delivery nanomedicine have been thinking about and developing tools for studying that kind of thing. Some of those thoughts and some of those tools could be applied to plants.”
Researchers already have developed many different architectures and chemistries for making nanoscale delivery vehicles for nanomedicine. “Some of the particle types are transferable,” he said. “You can take a nanoparticle that was optimized for movement in humans and put it in a plant, and you’ll probably find that it needs to be redesigned at least somewhat.”
Ristroph focuses on organic (carbon-based) nanocarriers that have a core-shell structure. The core contains a payload, while the shell forms a protective outer layer. Researchers have used many different types of nanomaterial in plants. The most popular materials are metallic nanoparticles because they are somewhat easier to make, handle and track where they go in a plant than organic nanoparticles.
“One of the first questions that you want to figure out is where these nanoparticles go in a plant,” Ristroph said. “It’s a lot easier to detect a metal inside of a plant that’s made of carbon than it is to detect a carbon-based nanoparticle in a plant that’s made of carbon.”
Last March, Ristroph and Purdue PhD student Luiza Stolte Bezerra Lisboa Oliveira published a critical review of the research literature on the Uptake and Translocation of Organic Nanodelivery Vehicles in Plants in Environmental Science and Technology.
“Not a lot is understood about transformations after these things go into a plant, how they’re getting metabolized,” Ristroph said. His team is interested in studying that, along with ways to help ensure that the nanoparticles are delivered to their proper destinations, and in corona formation. Coronas are biomolecular coatings that affect nanoparticle functions.
The manufacturability of nanocarriers is another interest area that could be transferred to agriculture from nanomedicine.
“I care a lot about manufacturability and making sure that whatever techniques we’re using to make the nanoparticles are scalable and economically feasible,” Ristroph said.
The manufacturability of nanocarriers is another interest area that could be transferred to agriculture from nanomedicine.
“I care a lot about manufacturability and making sure that whatever techniques we’re using to make the nanoparticles are scalable and economically feasible,” Ristroph said.
Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,
Towards realizing nano-enabled precision delivery in plants by Gregory V. Lowry, Juan Pablo Giraldo, Nicole F. Steinmetz, Astrid Avellan, Gozde S. Demirer, Kurt D. Ristroph, Gerald J. Wang, Christine O. Hendren, Christopher A. Alabi, Adam Caparco, Washington da Silva, Ivonne González-Gamboa, Khara D. Grieger, Su-Ji Jeon, Mariya V. Khodakovskaya, Hagay Kohay, Vivek Kumar, Raja Muthuramalingam, Hanna Poffenbarger, Swadeshmukul Santra, Robert D. Tilton & Jason C. White. Nature Nanotechnology (2024) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-024-01667-5 Published: 06 June 2024
A December 29, 2021 news item on ScienceDaily announces research into ;smart’ sustainable packaging from a joint Nanyang Technical University and Harvard University,
A team of scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, US, has developed a ‘smart’ food packaging material that is biodegradable, sustainable and kills microbes that are harmful to humans. It could also extend the shelf-life of fresh fruit by two to three days.
The waterproof food packaging is made from a type of corn protein called zein, starch and other naturally derived biopolymers, infused with a cocktail of natural antimicrobial compounds. These include oil from thyme, a common herb used in cooking, and citric acid, which is commonly found in citrus fruits.
In lab experiments, when exposed to an increase in humidity or enzymes from harmful bacteria, the fibres in the packaging have been shown to release the natural antimicrobial compounds, killing common dangerous bacteria that contaminate food, such as E. Coli and Listeria, as well as fungi.
The packaging is designed to release the necessary miniscule amounts of antimicrobial compounds only in response to the presence of additional humidity or bacteria. This ensures that the packaging can endure several exposures, and last for months.
As the compounds combat any bacteria that grow on the surface of the packaging as well as on the food product itself, it has the potential to be used for a large variety of products, including ready-to-eat foods, raw meat, fruits, and vegetables.
In an experiment, strawberries that were wrapped in the packaging stayed fresh for seven days before developing mould, compared to counterparts that were kept in mainstream fruit plastic boxes, which only stayed fresh for four days.
The invention is the result of the collaboration by scientists from the NTU-Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health Initiative for Sustainable Nanotechnology (NTU-Harvard SusNano), which brings together NTU and Harvard Chan School researchers to work on cutting edge applications in agriculture and food, with an emphasis on developing non-toxic and environmentally safe nanomaterials.
The development of this advanced food packaging material is part of the University’s efforts to promote sustainable food tech solutions, that is aligned with the NTU 2025 strategic plan, which aims to develop sustainable solutions to address some of humanity’s pressing grand challenges.
Professor Mary Chan, Director of NTU’s Centre of Antimicrobial Bioengineering, who co-led the project, said: “This invention would serve as a better option for packaging in the food industry, as it has demonstrated superior antimicrobial qualities in combatting a myriad of food-related bacteria and fungi that could be harmful to humans. The packaging can be applied to various produces such as fish, meat, vegetables, and fruits. The smart release of antimicrobials only when bacteria or high humidity is present, provides protection only when needed thus minimising the use of chemicals and preserving the natural composition of foods packaged.”
Professor Philip Demokritou, Adjunct Professor of Environmental Health at Harvard Chan School, who is also Director of Nanotechnology and Nanotoxicology Center and Co-director of NTU-Harvard Initiative on Sustainable Nanotechnology, who co-led the study, said: “Food safety and waste have become a major societal challenge of our times with immense public health and economic impact which compromises food security. One of the most efficient ways to enhance food safety and reduce spoilage and waste is to develop efficient biodegradable non-toxic food packaging materials. In this study, we used nature-derived compounds including biopolymers, non-toxic solvents, and nature-inspired antimicrobials and develop scalable systems to synthesise smart antimicrobial materials which can be used not only to enhance food safety and quality but also to eliminate the harm to the environment and health and reduce the use of non-biodegradable plastics at global level and promote sustainable agri-food systems.”
Providing an independent assessment of the work done by the NTU research team, Mr Peter Barber, CEO of ComCrop, a Singapore company that pioneered urban rooftop farming, said: “The NTU-Harvard Chan School food packaging material would serve as a sustainable solution for companies like us who want to cut down on the usage of plastic and embrace greener alternatives. As ComCrop looks to ramp up product to boost Singapore’s food production capabilities, the volume of packaging we need will increase in sync, and switching to a material such as this would help us have double the impact. The wrapping’s antimicrobial properties, which could potentially extend the shelf life of our vegetables, would serve us well. The packaging material holds promise to the industry, and we look forward to learning more about the wrapping and possibly adopting it for our usage someday.”
The results of the study were published in the peer-reviewed academic journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfacesin October [2021].
Cutting down on packaging waste
The packaging industry is the largest and growing consumer of synthetic plastics derived from fossil fuels, with food packaging plastics accounting for the bulk of plastic waste that are polluting the environment.
In Singapore, packaging is a major source of trash, with data from Singapore’s National Environment Agency showing that out of the 1.76 million tonnes of waste disposed of by domestic sources in 2018, one third of it was packaging waste, and over half of it (55 per cent) was plastic.
The smart food package material, when scaled up, could serve as an alternative to cut down on the amount of plastic waste, as it is biodegradable. Its main ingredient, zein, is also produced from corn gluten meal, which is a waste by-product from using corn starch or oils in order to produce ethanol.
The food packaging material is produced by electrospinning[1] the zein, the antimicrobial compounds with cellulose, a natural polymer starch that makes up plant cell walls, and acetic acid, which is commonly found in vinegar.
Prof Mary Chan added: “The sustainable and biodegradable active food packaging, which has inbuilt technology to keep bacteria and fungus at bay, is of great importance to the food industry. It could serve as an environmentally friendly alternative to petroleum-based polymers used in commercial food packaging, such as plastic, which have a significant negative environmental impact.”
Prof Demokritou added: “Due to the globalisation of food supply and attitude shift towards a healthier lifestyle and environmentally friendly food packaging, there is a need to develop biodegradable, non-toxic and smart/responsive materials to enhance food safety and quality. Development of scalable synthesis platforms for developing food packaging materials that are composed of nature derived, biodegradable biopolymers and nature inspired antimicrobials, coupled with stimuli triggered approaches will meet the emerging societal needs to reduce food waste and enhance food safety and quality.”
The team of NTU and Harvard Chan School researchers hope to scale up their technology with an industrial partner, with the aim of commercialisation within the next few years.
They are also currently working on developing other technologies to develop biopolymer-based smart food package materials to enhance food safety and quality.
Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper, followed by the key (nanocellulose crystal mention) sentences in the abstract,
Active food packaging materials that are sustainable, biodegradable, and capable of precise delivery of antimicrobial active ingredients (AIs) are in high demand. Here, we report the development of novel enzyme- and relative humidity (RH)-responsive antimicrobial fibers with an average diameter of 225 ± 50 nm, which can be deposited as a functional layer for packaging materials. Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) [emphasis mine], zein (protein), and starch were electrospun to form multistimuli-responsive fibers that incorporated a cocktail of both free nature-derived antimicrobials such as thyme oil, citric acid, and nisin and cyclodextrin-inclusion complexes (CD-ICs) of thyme oil, sorbic acid, and nisin. …
I have been following the CNC story for some time. If you’re curious, just use ‘cellulose nanocrystal(s)’ as your search term. You can find out more about ComCrop here.
