INOCULACIÓN DE NANOPARTÍCULAS DE TIO2-AG EN SEMILLAS DE ESPINACA

Spinach is consumed for its valuable nutritional contributions. However, in Colombia, this crop has been of little interest in the research area due to its low production. On the other hand, the nanotechnology that can be used in agriculture to prevent or control diseases in crops through the application of nanoparticles (NPs) is emerging as a high potential subject in our country. In this work, the inoculation of suspensions of titanium dioxide NPs with the incorporation of silver (TiO2- Ag) in spinach seeds was evaluated. The NPs were synthesized through Sol-gel method and characterized by means of X-ray diffraction; suspensions of these powder samples of grain size between 7 and 26 nm were prepared at different concentrations for inoculation. In comparison with the control group (without inoculation), highest plant growth was obtained with NPs of the lowest size and 2 % concentration. It possibly due to the contribution in the photosynthesis process and antimicrobial role of incorporated TiO2-Ag. The photsynthetic activity of the plants from control and treated groups was measured by the photoacoustic technique and it was found that the plants treated with the smallest NPs suspension, at a concentration between 0.25 and 2 %, presented a rate of oxygen evolution similar to control group. These results indicate that the treatment with NPs of TiO2-Ag between 7 and 8 nm at low concentration can improve the growth without drastic alteration of the photosynthetic rate of spinach plants, which can be an efficient alternative for improvement in crop production.