A Role of Biosynthesized Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) for Enhancing Seed Quality: A Review

Abiotic and biotic stresses impact seed growth, resulting in economic losses. Seeds are being subjected to an increasing number of biotic and abiotic stress combinations as a result of global warming and climate change, which has adverse effects on their growth and production. Drought, flood, salinity, heavy mineral contamination, cold, and heat were all found to have a negative impact on seed germination. Because of their massive surface area-to-volume ratio, nanoparticles—microscopic pieces with a nanoscale dimension ranging from 1-100 nm—have exceptional thermal conductivity, catalytic reactivity, nonlinear optical performance, and chemical durability. There are various methods for creating nanoparticles, such as chemical, physical, and biological ones. However, because dangerous chemical compounds are used as reducing agents, the chemical and physical procedures are expensive, complicated, and might be hazardous to the environment. The synthesis of nanoparticles using green approaches may be easily scaled up, and they are also cost-effective. Because of their superior qualities, greenly coordinated nanoparticles are currently preferred over traditionally delivered NPs. Green synthesis approaches are particularly appealing due to their ability to reduce nanoparticle toxicity. The use of vitamins, amino acids, and plant extracts has increased as a result. While dangerous and extremely hazardous substances are used in the chemical and physical processes that may cause environmental issues, capping and reducing agents are essential to the synthesis of nanoparticles. The capping or reducing agent used in physical and chemical processes is expensive. When used as a seed treatment, nanoparticles can enhance germination as well as the length, vigor, viability, and quality of the seedlings. This paper aims to provide an overview and evaluation of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) as a potential substitute for biosynthesised nanoparticles in seed quality improvement.