Optimization of chitosan nanoparticle synthesis and its potential application as germination elicitor of Oryza sativa L

• Published in: International journal of biological macromolecules Vol. 124; pp. 1053 - 1059
• Main Authors: Divya, K., Vijayan, Smitha, Nair, Sreekumar Janardanan, Jisha, M.S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01.03.2019
• Subjects: Chitosan nanoparticles; ED50; Germination assay; Oryza sativa; Relative growth rate; Seed vigour index; Germination assay; Oryza sativa; ED50; Chitosan nanoparticles; Seed vigour index; Relative growth rate; ED
• ISSN: 0141-8130; 1879-0003
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2018.11.185

The worldwide rice production has been dwindling due to biotic and abiotic causes. Chitosan is a proven biofunctional material that induces many biological responses in plants. However, the growth and yield increasing properties of chitosan nanoparticles (ChNP) on rice crop are not well understood. In the present work, effect of ChNP on germination of rice has been studied. Seed toxicity of ChNP was also analyzed to ensure the safety of ChNP application. The toxicity study was done according to EPA guidelines and ChNP was found to be non-toxic. Rice seeds were treated with ChNP at different concentrations for different time periods and kept for germination. Upon complete germination, the seedlings were sown in seed trays and growth was evaluated at 21 days after sowing. All treatments showed better results than the untreated control. Treatment T22 (1 mg/ml ChNP for 120 mins) gave the highest growth rates. Therefore we could deduce that ability of ChNP to elicit growth was associated with the concentration of ChNP and soaking time. The shelf life of ChNP was studied over a period of one year by analyzing the germination eliciting capacity on rice seeds. ChNP was found to effective for seven months when stored under room temperature. •The seed toxicity of chitosan nanoparticles (ChNP) on rice seeds are studied and were found to be growth promoting.•To the best of our knowledge, this is a pioneer work in use of ChNP as a growth promoter.•The germination eliciting capacity of ChNP has been studied in detail.•The shelf life of ChNP is also studied with reference to the germination eliciting property.