Physiological and Antioxidative Effects of Strontium Oxide Nanoparticles on Wheat

Abstract

We explored the impact of strontium oxide nanoparticles (SrO-NPs), synthesized through a green method, on seedling growth of bread wheat in hydroponic systems. The wheat plants were exposed to SrO-NPs concentrations ranging from 0.5 mM to 8.0 mM. Various parameters, including shoot length (cm), shoot fresh weight (g), root number, root length (cm), root fresh weight (g), chlorophyll value (SPAD), cell membrane damage (%), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) value (µmol/g), malondialdehyde (MDA) value (ng/µL), and enzymatic activities like ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activity (EU/g FW), peroxidase (POD) activity (EU/g FW), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity (U/g FW), were measured to assess the effects of SrO-NPs on the wheat plants in hydroponic conditions. The results showed that the SrO-NPs in different concentrations were significantly affected considering all traits. The highest values were obtained from the shoot length (20.77 cm; 0.5 mM), shoot fresh weight (0.184 g; 1 mM), root number (5.39; 8 mM), root length (19.69 cm; 0 mM), root fresh weight (0.142 g; 1 mM), SPAD (33.20; 4 mM), cell membrane damage (58.86%; 4 mM), H2O2 (829.95 µmol/g; 6 mM), MDA (0.66 ng/µl; 8 mM), APX (3.83 U/g FW; 6 mM), POD (70.27 U/g FW; 1.50 mM), and SOD (60.77 U/g FW; 8 mM). The data unequivocally supports the effectiveness of SrO-NPs application in promoting shoot and root development, chlorophyll levels, cellular tolerance, and the activation of enzymes in wheat plants.