Improving cassava crop under saline stress as auxiliary source for wheat flour using Zinc sulfate (ZnSO4) nanoparticles | ||
| Egyptian Journal of Agronomy | ||
| Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript, Available Online from 09 November 2025 | ||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/agro.2025.392058.1717 | ||
| Authors | ||
| Ahmad A. Suliman* 1; Said A. Saleh1; Ahmed S. Mohamed1; D. M. Sabra2; Gamal S. Khalifa3; Eid M. Mehareb4; Dina Mostafaed Mohamm5 | ||
| 1Horticultural Crops Technology Department, Agricultural and Biological Research Institute, National Research Centre, Giza, Egypt | ||
| 2Field Crops Research Department, Agricultural and Biological Research Institute, National Research Centre, Giza, Egypt | ||
| 3Agriculture Botany Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt | ||
| 4Sugar Crops Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Egypt | ||
| 5Nutrition and Food Sciences Department, National Research Centre, Dokki, Giza, 12622, Egypt | ||
| Abstract | ||
| Food crop production is severely hampered by the salinity of irrigation water, which is usually dominated by salt chloride. Cassava (Manihot esculenta) is a salt-sensitive crop, making its production in new lands difficult. This study aimed to improve cassava growth and production in a salt-stressed environment using zinc nanoparticles. Besides a control, cassava plants were irrigated with three different salinity levels. As the cause of the water salinity, irrigation was carried out using 3,000, 3,500, and 4,000 parts per million sodium chloride. Zinc at 50, 100, and 150 parts per million was also sprayed on the plants. After recording the fresh weight of the tubers and the number of tubers per plant, the root/shoot ratio was computed. However, depending on the zinc content, cassava development was considerably hindered, beginning at 3,500 ppm of salt chloride. 3000 ppm NaCl treated with 100 ppm Zn did not significantly slow down growth by increasing plant height, leaf area, number of leaves per plant, number of main stems and lateral branches, and total chlorophyll content. Moreover, 3000 ppm NaCl treated with 100 ppm Zn promoted the accumulation of total starch in fibrous roots and enhanced crop characteristics. In conclusion, feeding cassava plants with nano-zinc helped them grow in new lands using irrigation water under high-salinity conditions as high as 3,000 parts per million. Moreover, the antioxidant content of the plant increases with increased exposure to salt stress. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| Cassava (Manihot esculenta); Water salinity; Nano Zinc Sulfate; Salt chloride; Drought | ||
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