Iron-pulsing, a novel seed invigoration technique to enhance crop yield in rice: A journey from lab to field aiming towards sustainable agriculture

Unravelling Post-harvest Ripening Metabolomics of a New White Variety Guava Fruit (Cv Arka Mridula) with Special Emphasis on Phenolics and Corresponding Antioxidants

The phenolic, antioxidant and metabolic profiling of a new white variety guava fruit Arka Mridula (AM) was performed during its storage at the room temperature (28 ± 2 °C). The comparative profiles were generated at three ripening stages (pre-ripe, ripe and over-ripe) of the fruit. Generally, a steady decrease of the phenolic and antioxidant content from the pre-ripe to the ripe stage and a subsequent increase from the ripe to over-ripe stage was observed. Further, a powerful correlation between the phenolic content and antioxidant principles was noted through the principal component analysis. We could identify 53  compounds for the hydro-methanolic fruit extract through LC and GC-MS aided metabolic analysis, and the identified compounds were dominated by phenolics (~ 44%). The statistical analysis revealed that phytochemicals catechin, myricitrin, myricetin, kaempferol glycosides and n-hexadecanoic acid contributed significantly towards the ripening process of AM, during the storage. The present study is expected to provide important insight into the ripening biochemistry of AM. Subsequently, it may help in the future development of metabolically stable guava cultivars with extended post-harvest shelf life.

Nanotherapeutic potential of antibacterial folic acid-functionalized nanoceria for wound-healing applications

Aim: The functionalization and characterization of antibacterial nanoceria with folic acid (FA) and elucidation of their in vivo wound healing application. Materials & methods: Functionalization of nanoceria were done with FA using a chemical method and their antibacterial activity, cellular biocompatibility and in vivo wound healing application were evaluated. Results: The functionalization of nanoceria with FA was done with 10 to 20 nm size and -20.1 mV zeta potential. The nanoformulation showed a bacteriostatic effect along with biocompatibility to different cell lines; 0.1% w/v spray of FA-nanoceria demonstrated excellent wound healing capacity within 14 days in a Wister rat model. Conclusion: The antioxidant and reactive oxygen species scavenging activity of the FA-nanoceria make it a promising therapeutic agent as a unique spray formulation in wound healing applications.

Surface functionalization and size of polystyrene microplastics concomitantly regulate growth, photosynthesis and anti-oxidant status of Cicer arietinum L

Microplastics are a recent entrant in the list of environmental pollutants, exhibiting great diversity owing to different sizes, surface charges, and morphologies. The present study explores the impact of varied size, surface functionalization, and concentration of polystyrene microplastics (PS MP) on plants. For this study, Cicer seedlings were exposed to two different sizes of PS (1 μm and 12 μm) with three different surface functionalization (plain, carboxylated, and aminated) and at three distinct concentrations (10, 50, and 100 mg/L). The growth and photosynthetic parameters (like pigment content, Hill activity, etc.) along with oxidative stress marker (ROS) and anti-oxidant enzyme activities (like Superoxide dismutase, Catalase, and Peroxidase) were assessed. The results incline towards the idea that with increasing concentration of PS, there was a decline in the growth of the seedlings. There was also a dose-dependent increase in oxidative stress due to the suppression of the action of antioxidant enzymes. The effect was more prominent for 12 μm PS, perhaps due to its larger size and adherence to roots resulting in mechanical damage as deduced from MDA levels in the seedlings. Besides, MP with negative surface charge was comparatively less toxic than uncharged or positively charged PS of 1 μm. Overall, it can be concluded that the impact of MP on plants does not rely on individual characteristics of the particles alone, rather it is a concerted result of various determinants like size, charge, and concentration.