A review on the role of algae-nanoparticles as a sustainable agricultural strategy to improve resilience against abiotic stresses in leguminous crops

Abstract

Nanotechnology serves as one of the most sustainable and eco-friendly strategy to alleviate food shortage, boost crop productivity and plants’ resilience to environmental stresses. Green synthesis of algae-based nanoparticles remains scantly reported, although several algal species demonstrated high economic and ecological value with the potential to change the face of modern agriculture. This review interrogated the role of algal-NPs as a sustainable agricultural strategy to improve crop growth and tolerance against abiotic constraints. Recent literature reported average increases in morphological attributes (69.09 % and 64.91 %), antioxidant activity (81 % and 52 %) and chlorophyll content (73 % and 68 %) following soil and foliar applications of algal-NPs. Their uptake and involvement in crop metabolism, modulation and regulation of the most vital processes such as photosynthesis, growth, reproduction and grain formation contribute to improved tolerance to abiotic stresses, and occurrence of potential health-related or environmental risks also discussed in this paper. However, the analyses made in this review suggest that algae-based nanomaterials hold a great potential in controlling critical metabolic processes while serving as an efficient and cost-effective agristrategy in achieving high-quality yields, and increasing the plants’ tolerance to abiotic stress factors when applied as biostimulatory compounds in leguminous crops.