Abstract
Zinc (Zn) deficiency poses a significant global health concern, particularly in regions where rice is a staple food. Biofortification, the process of enhancing the nutrient content of crops, offers a sustainable solution. This study investigates the potential of soil applied zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) of different sizes (30, 40, and 95 nm) as an alternative to enhance Zn uptake, growth, and grain quality in two popular basmati rice cultivars (Pusa Basmati-1121 and Pusa Basmati-1509). Results showed that ZnO-NPs treatments performed significantly but among the various sizes, the 30 nm ZnO-NPs performed the best and increased the photosynthetic rate by 21.5–23.4%, stomatal conductance by 35.7–38.5%, chlorophyll a, b, and total content by 21.7–47%, and carotenoids by 38.2–46.2% compared to the control. Similarly, the performance of ZnO-NPs was significantly higher for metabolites especially protein, proline, and antioxidant enzymatic activities such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT), particularly 30 nm ZnO-NPs increased the most by 18.1–36% compared to the control. Soil amendment with ZnO-NPs significantly (p < 0.05) improved root length, surface area, volume, and average root diameter compared to the control. Additionally, ZnO-NP treatment increased tillers per hill (46%), productive tillers per hill (25% ), panicle length (5–20%), grain weight per panicle (33.3–36.3%), and yield per hill (29.2–32.1%) over the control, with the 30 nm ZnO-NPs performing the best among the three sizes. Other sizes of NPs (40 and 95 nm) also showed a significant improvement in crop yield attributes. ZnO-NP soil amendment significantly increased Zn density in roots and grains, with the 30 nm nanoparticles resulting in the highest increase (~ 57%) in grain Zn content in both cultivars. Furthermore, soil amended with ZnO-NPs significantly (p < 0.05) reduced phytic acid content in the grains of both rice cultivars. These findings demonstrate that ZnO-NPs, especially in smaller sizes (30 nm), can serve as an effective nano-biofortification strategy, addressing Zn deficiency in rice . The long-term effects of ZnO-NPs on soil health, microbial balance, and nutrient cycling, as well as assessing bioaccumulation risks in ecosystems, could be examined in future studies.
Data availability
The data supporting the findings of this study are available from the first author and corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
The authors extend their sincere thanks to the Director of ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, for permitting them to conduct the study. Authors also extend their sincere thanks to Dr. Bhupinder Singh, Division of Environmental Sciences, Dr. Monika Kundu, Division of Agricultural Physics, and Dr. Shruti Sethi, Division of Post-Harvest Technology, for their support in conducting experiments.
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S.P. carried out experiment, data acquisition, analysis, interpretation of data, drafting original article; R.P. conception of the work, methodology, interpretation of data; A.Y. conception and framing of the work, methodology, drafting original article; V.T.G. methodology, formal data analysis, P.K. conception of the work, methodology, interpretation of data, revision of original draft; D.K.S. interpretation of data; V.S. data analysis; E.V.M. formal analysis, revision of original draft, J.S.R. formal analysis, revision of original draft, R.R. - formal analysis, reviewing, R.S.B. interpretation of data, reviewing and A.K. data handling.
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Paranimuthu, S., Pandey, R., Yadav, A. et al. Size dependent efficacy of zinc oxide nanoparticles in zinc biofortification of basmati rice. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-30827-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-30827-3
