Global hunger numbers rose to as many as 828 million in 2021, according to the latest report of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Biomimetic mineralization, using zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs), has been proven to be a universal approach to encapsulating or intercalating different types of cargo from small hydrophobic molecules to large hydrophilic proteins. In addition to the ease of preparation and scale-up, ZIFs were shown to be stimuli-responsive as they easily break down at acidic pH to deliver a wide range of biomolecules. Morever, they have been recently reported as promising platforms for the delivery of fertilizers and other agrochemicals. However, they have not been tested for the precise and controlled delivery of zaxinone based agrochemicals. Herein, biomimetic mineralization was efficiently utilized to package the growth stimulant metabolite MiZax-3 and formalize a delivery platform to grow capsicum crops in a large-scale field experiment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). ZIF-8@MiZax-3 could efficiently load MiZax-3 with a 62% loading efficiency while keeping the biostimulant stable for over 30 days at high temperatures and real-life field conditions. Most importantly, we show that the coordination Zn ions in the framework together with MiZax-3 play an important role in increasing the nutritional factor of Zn in the produced crops, the plants treated with ZIF-8@MiZax-3 showed close to two-fold increase in the plant zinc content, which is very promising for mproving the overall nutritional value of crops even under challenging environmental conditions like high temperatures in KSA.

Biomimetic mineralization for smart biosimulant delivery and crop biofortification: Application in agrochemicals and sustainable agriculture

Where thousands of chemistry professionals meet to share ideas and advance scientific and technical knowledge. Spring 2023 abstracts, posters, and presentations will launch at the end of March.

ACS Spring 2023

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.