Effects Of Copper And Zinc-oxide Nanoparticles On Growth And Productivity Of Solanum Lycopersicum L. And Phaseolus Vulgaris L

Plants growth and productivity require copper and zinc-oxide in small quantity but these nutrients are not readily available to plants. Nanotechnology may be helpful in the effective delivery of these nutrients. This study investigated the effects of engineered nanoparticles of copper (CuNPs) and zinc-oxide (ZnONPs) as well as bulk copper (bCu) and zinc-oxide (bZnO) on the growth and productivity of Solanum lycopersicum L. (tomato) and Phaseolus vulgaris L. (bean). The objectives of the study were to determine the effects of CuNPs, ZnONPs, bCu and bZnO on the: (i) growth performance of tomato and bean: ii) chlorophyll contents of tomato and bean; iii) responses of the enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants in tomato and bean; (iv) starch and protein content of tomato and bean; and (v) bioaccumulation potentials of tomato and bean.rnFour seeds of tomato and bean were planted separately in 96 pots each containing 1.7 kg of sandy loam soil pre-treated with 0 (control), 300, 600 and 1000 mg/kg of CuNPs, ZnONPs, bCu, and bZnO. Growth parameters were measured with metre rule, chlorophyll content with Acetone incubation method, enzymatic and non-enymatic antioxidants with U-V Spectrophotometer, starch and protein contents of were determined following standard methods. Data were analysed using two-way Analysis of variance and means were separated using Duncan Multiple Range Test at p≤0.05.rnThe findings of the study were that:rni. ZnONPs, CuNPs, bCu and bZnO treatments promoted larger leaf areas (3.00-14.83 cm2) than the control (1.87-2.04 cm2) and the largest leaf area in tomato was promoted by 300mg/kg of ZnONPs (4.93-12.71 cm2). The number of leaves was highest in 300mg/kg of CuNPs (10.33-14.00) in beans. All treatments in tomato had higher number of leaves (3.00-14.83) than the control (2.67-2.99);rnii. chlorophyll a, b and total chlorophyll were more in control of bean (2.04, 2.73 and 3.20 mg/g) respectively than in 300mg/kgZnONPs (1.20, 0.10 and 1.23 mg/kg) and similar trend of 1.10,1.40 and 1.45 mg/g) in the control compared to (0.27. 0.37 and 0.56 mg/kg) recorded in 300mg/kgZnONPs of tomato;rniii. 300mg/kgCuNPs significantly (p≤0.05) increased ascorbic acid (highest) in bean 14.50% and 119.5% in tomato, while lycopene contents by 538.00% in bean and 967.00% in tomato and 1000mg/kgZnONPs significantly increased lycopene contents in tomato by 385.5%. Ascorbate peroxidase and superoxide dismutase significantly (p≤0.05) decreased respectively in bean by 242.00’% and 448.56% while it was54% and 493.93% in tomato; starch (4.20% and 40.15%) in bean and tomato; protein (44.93% and 70.15%) contents in the seed of bean and fruit of tomato respectively were higher in control than treatments; andrniv. Zinc was most bioaccumulated (305.00 mg/kg) in 1000mg/kgZnONPs while copper bioaccumulated 206.25 mg/kg in 1000mg/kgCuNPs in bean. Highest zinc bioaccumulation (312.50 mg/kg) was recorded in 1000mg/kgZnONPs and highest copper bioaccumulation (106.25 mg/kg) was recorded in 300 mg/kgCuNPs in tomato.rnThe study concluded that CuNPs and ZnONPs increased the growth, bioaccumulation potentials, non-enzymatic antioxidants but reduced enzymatic antioxidant, starch and protein contents of bean and tomato. The study recommended that 300 and 600 mg/kg of CuNPs and ZnONPs should be used in the cultivation of tomato and bean.

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