MOSCOW, June 24. The positive effect of manganese on the germination and development of peas was proven by NCFU specialists as part of an international research team. According to them, the addition of stable suspensions of manganese nanoparticles to seeds improves pea germination and stimulates photosynthesis in sprouts. The results are presented in the scientific journal Nanomaterials.
The activities of the modern agro-industrial complex are complicated by various factors that cause a stress response in plants. Crop productivity is reduced by extremely low and high temperatures for the area, excessively low or high air and soil humidity, as well as infectious diseases, reported researchers from the North Caucasus Federal University (NCFU). To increase the resistance of plants to adverse environmental factors, scientists are developing special organic and inorganic additives.
Today, the issue of using nanosized forms of metals and their oxides in agriculture is being widely studied. However, their practical use is severely limited due to their instability, noted the acting director. Head of the Department of Physics and Technology of Nanostructures and Materials of NKFU Andrey Blinov.
“Nanoparticles themselves are very active and quickly react or coagulate – stick together. Therefore, nanoparticles in free form quickly lose beneficial properties,” he said.
Scientists NCFU, St. Petersburg State Agricultural University and the Kazakh Research Institute of Processing and Food Industry have found that adding manganese oxide nanoparticles stabilized with an organic “coat” to pea seeds stimulates their germination and increases germination.
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“Manganese is necessary for the normal course of biochemical reactions associated with photosynthesis, and increases the intensity of biochemical processes during stem growth. We determined that at concentrations of 0.1–1 mg/L, our nanoparticles stabilized with cocamidopropyl betaine stimulate the growth of pea seeds. At higher concentrations of additives, seed germination rates become worse than in control groups. This is explained by a possible toxic effect – a kind of “overdose” of seeds with manganese,” explained Andrey Nagdalyan, senior researcher at the research laboratory of food and industrial biotechnology of the Faculty of Food Engineering and Biotechnology of NCFU.
He noted that cocamidopropyl betaine, obtained from coconut oil, is widely used in the manufacture of products personal hygiene. To date, its toxicity to the environment has not been detected.
“Now we are at the initial stage of research. After three years of project implementation, we will conclude that it is possible to introduce our development on the Russian market. But interim results today show great prospects for its commercialization. Our development will help reduce farmers’ losses in the yield of forage crops under stressful conditions environmental conditions – such as in 2020,” the specialist emphasized.
In the future, the team plans to simulate stressful conditions, such as high humidity, drought, high salinity, hypothermia, hypertemia, etc. ., to assess the protective and adaptive properties of plants when treated with synthesized nano-sized forms of manganese and other essential microelements.
Thus, Essential microelements, which are deficient in the region, will be absorbed by feed crops and transmitted first to animals, and then to people, through products of animal origin. This food chain, according to scientists, can be shortened by processing crops intended for human consumption.
The research was supported by the Russian Science Foundation grant No. 23–76-10046.
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