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Nanotechnology has immensely contributed for the treatment of contaminated water with the development of nano-adsorbents. In last few years, the demand of nano-adsorbents in the water industry has grown rapidly. Therefore, regeneration of utilized adsorbents has become a foremost issue as they are often hazardous. Different techniques for regeneration of adsorbents have been developed such as thermal, steam, chemical, microwave-assisted, electrochemical, and bio-regeneration. For this, different parameters and factors should be taken into account for efficient adsorbents regeneration such as pH, temperature and time. These applied regeneration strategies play a major role in the improvement of adsorbent’s lifetime, adsorption cycles and replacement rate. Moreover, recovery of precious metals can only be possible by desorption of the metals adsorbed through suitable regeneration techniques. Thus, regeneration can contribute towards the balance of ecology and environmental safety by enhancing the application cycles. This comprehensive review is an attempt to help the scientific community working on adsorption studies to take up research initiatives required to address the feasible recovery methods of adsorbed materials from the used adsorbents, to study the possible reuse of the desorbing agents, and to choose a suitable desorbing/regenerating agent for a particular application.

The heavy metal pollution problem is all over the world. Plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB) has transformed heavy metals present in the soil, which removes and minimizes their toxic effects. This chapter highlights the role of PGPB for remediation of heavy metals, their mechanism of action, and their applications approach of hyperaccumulation. Further, it also highlights the role of uptake and detoxification of metals by cellular mechanisms which facilitate the bioremediation of heavy metals from contaminated areas. Bacteria may also enhance nutrient uptake, increasing plant growth and defenses while diminish heavy metals intake and their toxic effects. Therefore, this chapter focuses on the mechanisms by which microorganisms can mobilize or immobilize metals in soils and the bioremediation strategies are addressed for the improvement of phytoextraction as an innovative process for enhancement of heavy metals removal from soil.

There is a significant interest to develop sensing devices that detect water toxins, especially heavy metal ions. Although there have already been numerical reports on detecting toxic heavy metal ions, the use of adaptable devices could enable a broader range of sensing applications. Here, we used fresh peel extract (PeA) and dried peel extract (DPeA) ofThis is the first study to report the use of avocado peel extract to synthesize AgNPs in sensing aqueous Al(III) and Cr(III) at trace level concentration.

The review reports the results of various researches work on the engine performance and emission characteristics of diesel engine using different nanoadditives in jojoba biodiesel - diesel blends. Blending of diesel with biodiesel in a diesel engine has gained importance, due to its economical and environmental benefits. Jojoba biodiesel gained an importance as an alternative fuel over conventional diesel fuel even with their unfavorable effects of power reduction. The wide spread usage of nanoadditives to improve the combustion quality may be a good solution of this problem. Blending of nanoparticles as an additives in biodiesel – diesel blends improves the thermophysical properties, such as thermal conductivity, mass diffusivity and high surface area-to-volume ratio. Based on the results available in the literature, it has been found that nanoadditives with jojoba biodiesel - diesel blends improve the performance of diesel engine and reduced the emission of toxic gases depending upon the dosage of the nanoadditives.

Vitamin-A deficiency is a major health concern. Traditional yellow maize possesses low provitamin-A (proA). Mutant crtRB1 gene significantly enhances proA. 24 experimental hybrids possessing crtRB1 allele were evaluated for β-carotene (BC), β-cryptoxanthin (BCX), lutein (LUT), zeaxanthin (ZEA), total carotenoids (TC) and grain yield at multi-locations. BC (0.64–17.24 µg/g), BCX (0.45–6.84 µg/g), proA (0.86–20.46 µg/g), LUT (9.60–31.03 µg/g), ZEA (1.24–12.73 µg/g) and TC (20.60–64.02 µg/g) showed wide variation. No significant genotype × location interaction was observed for carotenoids. The mean BC (8.61 µg/g), BCX (4.04 µg/g) and proA (10.63 µg/g) in crtRB1-based hybrids was significantly higher than normal hybrids lacking crtRB1-favourable allele (BC: 1.73 µg/g, BCX: 1.29 µg/g and proA: 2.37 µg/g). Selected crtRB1-based hybrids possessed 33% BC and 40% BCX compared to 6% BC and 5% BCX in normal hybrids. BC showed positive correlation with BCX (r = 0.90), proA (r = 0.99) and TC (r = 0.64) among crtRB1-based hybrids. Carotenoids didn’t show association with grain yield. Average yield potential of proA rich hybrids (6794 kg/ha) was at par with normal hybrids (6961 kg/ha). PROAH-13, PROAH-21, PROAH-17, PROAH-11, PROAH-23, PROAH-24 and PROAH-3 were the most promising with >12 µg/g proA and >6000 kg/ha grain yield. The newly identified crtRB1-based hybrids assume significance in alleviating malnutrition.

The demand for the development of eco-friendly, sustainable, and adaptable technologies for the disinfection of the environmental contaminants is increasing nowadays. Nano-bioremediation is one such technique that has made possible the use of biosynthetic nanoparticles for soil pollution remediation. It is an effective, efficient, and feasible method for revitalizing soil potential and rendering it pollution free. Pollutants present in soil are a great threat to soil biota, environment, and in fact human health. Nanomaterials exhibit the unique chemical and physical properties because of which they have always received attention in the growing era of bioremediation. Use of nanotechnology for bioremediation is one such technology as it focuses mainly on the interaction between the contaminants, the microorganisms, and the nanomaterials being used for both the positive (i.e., stimulating) and negative or toxic environmental effects. Thus, this chapter focuses on the need to recover the polluted soil and application of nano-remediation technology for restoring soil's cultivation capacity.

Water pollution due to fluoride (F) is a serious problem worldwide; effective remediation techniques are required. The World Health Organization (WHO) has set a permissible limit of 1.5 mg/L−1 for drinking water. F-bearing rocks in India have also been reported to be plentiful, resulting in fluoride leaching out and degradation of nearby water and soil resources. F contamination affects many life forms (both plants and humans) when they enter the food system. The researchers were fascinated by the evolution of new membrane filtration, their high selectivity, high efficiency, and elevated membrane durability. Membrane process proved great technology for F remediation from wastewater, groundwater and potable water. Membrane process is climate safe, low cost and user-friendly. This chapter reviews different membrane processes for the fluoride remediation.

The heavy metal pollution problem is all over the world. Plant-growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) has transformed heavy metals present in the soil, which removes and minimizes their toxic effects. This chapter highlights the role of plant-growth-promoting bacteria, chelating agents, and nanoparticles for remediation of heavy metals; their mechanism of action; and their applications approach of hyperaccumulation. Therefore, this chapter focuses on the mechanisms by which microorganisms, chelating agents, and nanoparticles can mobilize or immobilize metals in soils and the nano-phytoremediation strategies are addressed for the improvement of phytoextraction as an innovative process for enhancement of heavy metals removal from soil.

There is a significant interest to develop sensing devices that detect water toxins, especially heavy metal ions. Although there have already been numerical reports on detecting toxic heavy metal ions, the use of adaptable devices could enable a broader range of sensing applications. Here, we used fresh peel extract (PeA) and dried peel extract (DPeA) of Persea americana (Avocado) as a reducing and capping agent to synthesize and stabilize AgNPs. The dimensions of NPs were controlled by tuning pH, temperature, and volume of the reducing agent. The sensitivity and selectivity of the AgNPs toward various metal ions viz. Ni(II), Cd(II), Al(III), Hg(II), Cr(III), Ba(II), Pb(II), Zn(II), Co(II), Mn(II), Cu(II), Ca(II), Mg(II), and K(I) were studied. The detection probe was found to be selective and sensitive toward Al(III) and Cr(III) ions with the detection limit of 0.04 ppm and 0.05 ppm, respectively. High-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM), ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, and dynamic light scattering (DLS) analysis results confirm an agglomeration-based mechanism for sensing both metal ions. This method can be exploited for the colorimetric detection of toxic heavy metals in real water samples. This is the first study to report the use of avocado peel extract to synthesize AgNPs in sensing aqueous Al(III) and Cr(III) at trace level concentration.

Terrestrial soil is a complex part of the ecosystem hosting bacteria, fungi, protists, animals, and huge source of nutrients to plants. These soil-dwelling organisms exhibit an array of interactions with plants to span the full range of ecological possibilities. In the 19th century, many different bacterial strains were described as having plant growth favouring potential like Pseudomonas, Azospirillum, and even crop seeds were coated with bacterial cultures to improve growth and yield. The soil microbial community also recognized their considerable role to improve the soil health via energy transfer, catalyzing reactions, and nutrient mineralization. Thus, soil microorganisms and enzymatic process are generally regarded as rate-limiting steps in decomposition and nutrient cycling.

The agricultural biotechnology sector shares a common scientific foundation with the therapeutic biotechnology sector, including similar characteristics of a lengthy time to market for emerging products. But the challenges, goals, and opportunities for agricultural applications of biotechnology provide a very different context for innovation and entrepreneurs. Innovation means something novel, which can be a process or a way of doing something novel. Biotechnology entrepreneurship is summing all integrated activities that can create, develop, and finally, commercialize a biotechnology product. These sectors offer new business opportunities that, like agricultural biotechnology trait creation, enable entrepreneurs to think about creating disruptive businesses, not just disruptive technologies for today's business models. In this chapter, the authors conclude the unique aspects of entrepreneurship in the industry of biotechnology in contract with other industries and also discuss the importance of biotechnology entrepreneurs in agriculture.

Small-scale product development is not for everyone, and it needs a high level of discipline, dedication, persistence, and creativity as well as a lot of work. Before setting up a small-scale business, one needs seed money, physical location of the business venture, construction work, equipment/machinery maintenance, management skills, accounting skills, and last but not least, marketing skills. For the development of any area, the small-scale industry development is very important mainly for the income source of the community and for employment opportunities. On the basis of study, four strategies that are used for the development of small-scale industries were found, and these strategies are 1) promotion and development of institutional, business groups, and cooperatives; 2) determination brands; 3) strategy competition with low cost and product development; 4) to improve final access market orientation strategies. On the basis of analysis of these strategies, they are prioritized, and the first priority is strategy.

Fluoride (F

An extreme temperature regime beyond desired level imposes significant stress in crop plants. The low and high temperature stresses are one of the primary constraints for plant development and yield. Finger millet, being a climate resilient crop, is a potential source of novel stress tolerant genes. In this study, functional characterization of finger millet DREB2A gene in different abiotic stress conditions was done. This novel EcDREB2A transcription factor isolated from finger millet is a truncated version of DREB2A gene compared to previously reported DREB genes from other plant species. The overexpression of EcDREB2A in transgenic tobacco exhibits improved tolerance against heat stress 42 °C for up to 7 days, by altering physiology and biochemical means. However, same transgenic lines were unable to provide tolerance to 200 mM NaCl and 200 mM Mannitol stress. Under heat stress conditions, increased seed germination with improved lateral roots, fresh and dry weight relative to wild type (WT) was observed. The EcDREB2A transgenics exposed to heat stress showed improved rate of stomatal conductance, chlorophyll and carotenoids contents, and other photosynthesis parameters compared to WT plants. EcDREB2A overexpression also resulted in increased antioxidant enzyme activity (SOD, CAT, GR, POD and, APX) with decreased electrolyte leakage (EL), H2O2, and malondialdehyde (MDA) content than WT plants under heat stress. Quantitative real time expression analysis demonstrated that all eight downstream genes were significantly upregulated in transgenic plants only after heat stress. Our data provide a clear demonstration of the positive impact of overexpression of EcDREB2A providing heat stress tolerance to plants.

Jojoba [Simmondsia chinensis (Link) Schneider] is native shrub of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States, commercially utilized for the liquid wax stored in their seeds. It has polyploidy, dioecious, perennial producing, highly heterozygous individual seeds. That is a fact which creates a great mixing of genes when the pollens are blown long distances for fertilization. Genetic diversity is the main source of variability in any crop improvement program. The present study is aimed at evaluating the genetic variation of 18 male and 18 female jojoba accessions using 22 genome-wide SSR markers. Genotyping of 36 jojoba accessions produced a total of 31 alleles in male and 28 alleles in female accessions with an average value of 0.344 and 0.311 for male and female accessions, respectively. Primer BA00213364 showed highest polymorphism information content (PIC) and BA00213368 showed the highest resolving power (Rp) for both male and female accessions in comparison to other primers. Two accessions “879-154 and 40” showed diverse genetic makeup and are placed in a separate Operational Taxonomic Unit (OTU) in comparison to others. The resultant diverse accessions and polymorphic EST-SSRs in the present study will be used for the identification of economically important traits to be utilized in future molecular breeding programmes of jojoba.

Vitamin A deficiency in humans is a widespread health problem. Quality protein maize (QPM) is a popular food rich in lysine and tryptophan, but poor in provitamin A (proA). Here, we report the improvement of an elite QPM inbred, HKI1128Q for proA using marker‐assisted introgression of crtRB1‐favourable allele. HKI1128 was one of the parental lines of three popular hybrids in India and was converted to QPM in our earlier programme. Severe segregation distortion for crtRB1 was observed in BC₁F₁, BC₂F₁ and BC₂F₂. Background selection by 100 SSRs revealed mean recovery of 91.07% recurrent parent genome varying from 88.78% to 93.88%. Across years, introgressed progenies possessed higher mean β‐carotene (BC: 9.22 µg/g), β‐cryptoxanthin (BCX: 3.05 µg/g) and provitamin A (proA: 10.75 µg/g) compared to HKI1128Q (BC: 2.26 µg/g, BCX: 2.26 µg/g and proA: 3.38 µg/g). High concentration of essential amino acids, viz. lysine (mean: 0.303%) and tryptophan (0.080%) in endosperm, was also retained. Multi‐year evaluation showed that introgressed progenies possessed similar grain yield (1,759–1,879 kg/ha) with HKI1128Q (1,778 kg/ha). Introgressed progenies with higher lysine, tryptophan and proA hold immense potential as donors and parents in developing biofortified hybrids.

Fluoride (F) in groundwater is a major issue of water pollution. Geo-statistical analysis of groundwater quality in Newai Tehsil, (India) has been done in order to identify the possible spatial distribution of water quality parameters and to assess the spatial dependence of water properties with the help of principal component analysis (PCA) structure. Two types of maps (spatial map and principal component map) of groundwater quality have been developed. A field experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of different Fluoride (F) concentration combined with Pseudomonas fluorescens (P.F) on Prosopis juliflora plant. The field design was used as completely randomized block design with three replicates. Study revealed that parameters were found to be positively and highly correlated with principal component. Low and high values (with their acceptable limit) have also been displayed over the each spatial map. Plants treated with P. fluorescens showed the highest F uptake in root, shoot and leaves tissues were 33.14, 19.41 and 15.15 mg kg −1 after 120 days, respectively. Both total bioaccumulation factor (BF) and translocation factor (TF) were obtained above one i.e., 1.06 and 1.04, this confirmed the high accumulation and translocation of F in plant tissues. The F uptake efficiency of plant was enhanced to 67.7% and plant biomass was increased upto 57.03%. According to the available literature, this is the first spatial field study for the remediation of F polluted soil through P. fluorescens . The present study will be beneficial for researchers working towards further improvement of F phytoremediation technology. Also, GIS based study can be very useful for decision maker's exploration of groundwater to understand the potential of present research work on fluoride contamination.

Fluoride (F) pollution is a major worldwide problem affecting approximately 200 million people. Hyperaccumulator plant Prosopis juliflora has been used for the removal of F from contaminated soils; however it’s low F accumulation efficiency and low biomass limits the phytoremediation efficiency. Present study deals with enhancement of F uptake efficiency of plant P. juliflora through iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe3O4 NPs) application for remediation of agricultural soils. For the study, Fe3O4 NPs were synthesized through green route using waste jojoba leaves. The application of Fe3O4 NPs significantly increased the shoot and root length of plant P. juliflora. Fe3O4 NPs treatment also promoted the F accumulation in shoot and root tissues upto 28.43 and 34.64 mg kg−1, respectively. Microscopic (FESEM and light microscopic) and EDX spectrum analysis of plant tissues confirmed the accumulation and translocation of Fe3O4 NPs and F in plant tissues This nano-phytoremediation approach could be a better option for F remediation for agricultural and commercial purpose.

A cellulose acetate phthalate (CAP)-mannitol copolymer dispersed in the polyvinly alcohol (PVA) film was in situ mixed with the copper (Cu) metal nanoparticle (NP)-dispersed carbon nanofibers (CNFs). The synthesized polymer-metal-carbon nanocomposite was efficiently used as the chemiresistive sensor material for determining the quality (freshness) of banana via the measurement of electrical current during the release of ethylene (C2H4) gas from the banana samples. The prepared material was characterized for its physico-chemical properties, using different spectroscopic techniques such as scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, Fourier transform infrared, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The detection and quantitative limits for C2H4 gas were determined to be ∼45 and 136 parts per billion, respectively, using differential pulse voltammetry measurements. Amperometry measurements showed a reversible response of the sensor within 30 s of the exposure of C2H4 gas. The efficient performance of the proposed material sensor was attributed to the formation of a Cu-C2H4O complex by the catalytic graphitic CNF surface and Cu metal nanoparticle, COOH functional groups containing CAP having entrapping ability for C2H4, and increased electrical conductivity of the CAP-mannitol copolymer. The method for the synthesis of the sensor material was simple, and the response of the fabricated sensor towards ethylene detection was fast. The chemiresistive sensor developed in this study may be used for determining the quality of fruits that release C2H4 during their various developmental stages.

Jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis) is an important commercial shrub. Concerns have been raised about the availability of the good raw material for various industries to lower down the costs of products. Seed planted populations are highly variable in yields and growth habits. For this reason, there is need to develop a selection programs that improves the crop productivity of good quality seed plants. Jojoba industry, mainly depends on its oil, but the remaining seed meal is also useful for various industries like cosmetics, animal fodder, bio fuel etc. In the present study 14 different accessions of jojoba are used for the chemical and molecular fingerprinting. Chemical fingerprinting of jojoba includes both nutritional (Carbohydrate, protein, polyphenol, aminoacids, antioxidants) as well as antinutritional factor (Simmondsin). Simmondsin content was analyzed by using HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography) technique. Molecular fingerprinting was done by using ISSR (Inter Simple Sequence Repeat) molecular markers. Finally the correlation of molecular and chemical fingerpring data showed that accession Clone-64 having highest nutritional value and formed a separate OTU (Operational Taxonomic Unit) in dendrogram. Thus, this accession could be good candidates for different commercial applications. Our data strongly suggest that cumulative approach (molecular and chemical fingerprinting) proved to be best for accessing, the relationship between different accessions of jojoba in future breeding programs.

Fluoride (F-) is one of the essential and most potentially toxic elements that causes severe health problem consuming F- contaminated drinking water. This study evaluates the more efficient adsorption capacity of a novel yttrium-titanium-graphene oxide (Y-Ti-GO) impregnated ceramic slate to adsorb excess F-from drinking water. The ceramic (YTiGO) nanocomposite (NC) was fabricated via the co-precipitation method and characterized by various characteristics Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX), x-ray diffractometry (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR). The adsorption behavior of ceramic NC slate was thoroughly carried out by performing batch experiments to examine the outcome of pH, time and adsorbent on removing F- from water. The maximum F- removal by ceramic NC slate upto 86% was achieved under optimized conditions at pH 5 with a contact time of 8 min. Adsorption kinetics were supported by pseudo- second order reaction and Langmuir isotherm possessing higher R2 value suggesting monolayer adsorption. The maximum adsorption capacity (Q0) of the adsorbent was calculated to be 33.3 mg g−1 by the Langmuir equation. In addition on behalf of characterization, F- removal includes the ion exchange mechanism between F- and M−OH (metal hydroxide) onto ceramic NC surface. The proposed nano adsorbent with high F- removal efficiency, involvement of unhazardous chemicals and short time demonstrate the potential of this study for routine F- removal from drinking water.

Fluoride (F-) is that the foremost toxicant affecting almost 200 million people worldwide. Present work involves defluoridation experiments utilizing magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe3O4NPs) fabricated on the graphene/alginate nanocomposite hydrogel. The Fe3O4NPs was synthesized via waste flowers (rose) obtained from temples via green route and chemically graphene oxide (GO) was prepared through lead of pencil. Batch trials were conducted to analyze the relation of F- ions with different parameters such as pH, contact period, fluoride concentration and dose. The surface structure of nanoparticles (NPs), functional groups contribution and elements availability in the hydrogel was examined through field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive x-ray analysis (EDX), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) techniques. The developed hybrid Fe3O4/graphene/alginate nanocomposite hydrogel exhibits a maximum defluoridation capacity of 7.51 mg g−1. Maximum removal percentage was attained for 2 and 10 mg L-1F- content as 85.5% to 59% at pH 5 and 120 min. The equilibrium isotherm study was fitted with Freundlich isotherm model. Pseudo-second-order kinetic model (R2 = 0.988) was favoured divulged that the insight of F- ions took place through chemisorption processes on GO/Fe/Alginate nanocomposite hydrogel.

A facile route to a novel defluoridation prototype was developed i.e. fluoride (F−) pencil enclosing 3D network porous hydrogel structure consisted of 2D Graphene oxide (GO) sheets and nanomaterials. Green synthesized nanomaterials as aluminium oxide (Al2O3), silver oxide (Ag2O), carbon quantum dots (CQDs) with GO were successfully utilized for developed defluoridation pencil. Synthesized graphene-aluminium-silver-carbon quantum dots (GO-Al2O3-Ag2O-CQDs: GAAC) hydrogel showed high adsorption capacity with characterization through analytical techniques such as field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive x-ray analysis (EDX), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The adsorption capacity of GAAC hydrogel was as high as 12.04 mg g-1. Developed hydrogel exhibited removal percentage for 2 and 10 mg L-1 F− as 95.5 and 80 %, respectively. Kinetically, GAAC material for F− adsorption obeyed pseudo-second-order model (R2 = 0.999) as compared to pseudo-first-order model. Langmuir adsorption isotherm (R2 = 0.978) proved more favourable than Freundlich model (R2 = 0.928), which confirmed chemisorption processes for F− adsorption. Finally, mechanism showed that F− ion uptake and release of −OH groups which are bonded to the GAAC composite on the gels is connected.

Heavy metals such as Cd, Cu, and Pb are regarded as primary ecological contaminants. Amongst all, Cd is studied due to its potential harmfulness and lethal-to-life forms, and additionally due to high interaction between soil and flora organization. This chapter highlights the hazardous effects of Cd on plants, i.e., development problem, modification of photosynthetic function, alteration in stomatal motion, enzyme behavior, protein synthesis, and membrane performance; it also summarizes the Cd movement mechanism, transfer, and accumulation. Plants implement different systems to neutralize the toxic effects of Cd by developing metal-attaching peptides or changing the action of the complexes of antioxidant apparatus. It will help in the interdisciplinary study to assess the environmental importance of metal toxicity and accumulation.

Heavy metals, such as lead, chromium, mercury, copper, and arsenic, are the major environmental pollutants. Heavy metal accumulation in soils is one of the major concerns for the agriculture sector due to its adverse effects on food production and safety. This chapter details the range of heavy metals, their toxicity for plants, kind of DNA damage caused by them, and their detection by several conventional and modern methods. Heavy metal toxicity has high impact on plants and consequently it directly affects the ecosystem. Plants grow under heavy metal-contaminated sites that exhibit reduced growth, lower biomass production, altered metabolism, and high metal accumulation. Heavy metals can cause various physiological, biochemical, and molecular changes in plants. Molecular changes may include DNA damage in plants that directly interact with DNA or indirectly inhibit the DNA-repairing enzymes and by producing ROS compounds. DNA damage includes strand breaks (SSBs and DSBs), DNA-protein cross-links, base and sugar lesions, abasic site production, and DNA modifications.

Developing rapid technologies that improve the food production industry with no harmful influence on the environment is a prime priority today. Agriculture is one of the most important sectors but it consume large amount of water. Agriculture soil especially arid and semi-arid soils have large pores due to this; plants have to face low water and fertilizer retention problem. Smart polymeric materials and their high water and mineral retention capacity helped the agricultural industry. Hydrogels, also termed as smart and/or hungry networks, are current subject of considerable scientific research due to their potential in hi-tech applications in modern agriculture system. This review mainly focuses on how we can increase the efficiency of already available hydrogels and their processing regarding crops. This review also discusses the literature about some novel and advanced hydrogels with their applications in agri/food-based industries.

Fluoride (F−) occurs naturally in a soil, air and water as commonly found element in earth crusts. Almost 200 million populations worldwide and approximately 60 million in India are facing F− contamination problem. Therefore, development of low-cost and highly sensitive colorimetric detector for F− ions using carbon quantum dots (CQDs) and metal salts is required. For this, CQDs were synthesized using flower waste from temples by green method and further characterized. CQDs-TiO2 complex solution color changes from green to black on addition of F− ions due to exchange of F− ions with hydroxyl ions of the solution. Absorption spectrum of CQDs-TiO2 complex solution depicts change in spectral graph on adding F− ions with the appearance of new band at approx. 550 nm. The color spectral as a function of F− ions concentration gave a linear response in the range of 2–8 ppm (R2 = 0.9808). The color change can be observed at 2 ppm after incubation of 5 min by naked eye. Developed colorimetric detector shows high selectivity with other ions (Cl−, Br−, I− and H2PO4−). The F− ion detection was done in different water samples collected from districts of Haryana using developed detector. The developed colorimetric detector allows wide range of F− sensing for water sample even at every low concentration i.e 2 ppm.

Fluoride (F−) is the major toxicant affecting almost 200 million people worldwide. In the present study, novel Al2O3/GO cellulose based 3D-hydrogel was synthesized using green synthesized Aluminium oxide Nanoparticles (Al2O3 NPs) and graphene oxide (GO). Developed hydrogel displayed a 3D network porous structure consisted of 2D sheets (GO), with the uniform dispersion of Al2O3 onto the cellulose matrix. Green route was utilized for Al2O3 NPs synthesis using wastes produced during oil extraction from Syzygium aromaticum (clove) and chemically GO was synthesized using pencil lead. Synthesized nanomaterials were characterized through analytical techniques such as FESEM, XRD, EDX and FTIR which has been employed for adsorption of F− from drinking water. Batch adsorption studies for F− were conducted with varying pH, adsorbent dose, initial F− concentration and time. Maximum percentage removal was obtained for 2 and 10 mg L-1 F− concentration as 92.5 and 25.6% at pH 5 and 120 min. F− adsorption capacity attained was 5.34 mg g−1 at pH 5 in 120 min. Adsorption isotherm for F− confirmed that Langmuir model (0.956) was more favorable than Freundlich. Pseudo-second-order kinetics (R2 = 0.998) was fitted better and confirmed the chemisorption processes for F−.

An aqueous colloidal dispersion (∼230 nm average size) of the copper (Cu) nanoparticle (NP)-grown carbon nanofibers (CNFs) was used as a stimulant for crop yields. The Cu-CNFs (average diameter = 95 nm), separately prepared on an activated carbon microfiber substrate using chemical vapor deposition, were dispersed in Cicer arietinum seed-containing water. The CNFs served as a carrier for the Cu micronutrient, with a controlled release of the Cu NPs. The CNFs also served as a growth stimulant by increasing the water uptake capacity of the plants. The scanning electron microscopy images, elemental (Cu/C) mapping, and atomic absorption spectrometry data corroborated the effective translocation of the Cu-CNFs from the root to the shoot of the plants. The water uptake capacity, germination rate, shoot and root lengths, and chlorophyll and protein contents significantly increased in the plants using the Cu-CNFs. This is the first study showing the use of the Cu-CNFs as a carrier of micronutrients in plants, with an effective translocation ability.

Jojoba, Simmondsia chinensis (Link) Schneider, a desert shrub belongs to family Simmondsiaceae. In the current study the cumulative molecular and phytochemical approach is used to investigate 18 different accessions of Simmondsia chinensis collected from AJORP (Association of Rajasthan for Jojoba Plantation and Research Project), Rajasthan (Jaipur). The focus of this study was the correlation of molecular and phytochemical characters at the intraspecific level. DNA fingerprinting of jojoba accessions was performed using RAPD markers along with the fatty acid profiling of its oil using GC–MS technique. Both molecular analysis and biochemical fingerprinting cumulatively revealed a significant level of variability among accessions. Ten major fatty acids were found in all the accessions, out of them oleic acid (OA) was in high concentration. Further OA content of individual accession was correlated with RAPD analysis data. High OA containing accessions were grouped together in a single cluster. On the basis of our results, it can be concluded that three accessions which were grouped in a single cluster 2a (82-18, 48-25 and 58-5) are the best. Thus, these accessions could be better candidates for different commercial applications. Our data strongly suggest that cumulative approach (molecular and biochemical) proved to be best for accessing the relationship between different accessions of jojoba in future breeding programs.

In this research our main concern is to address that fluorosis as a global health issue and to provide an affordable diagnostic probe to detect the unhealthy concentration of fluoride in water that causes it. In this context, we have used chitosan with 85% deacetylation as a matrix to stabilize the nanoparticles (NPs) for fluoride detection. The sensing probe based on a nano-architecture imparts evident green color to the solution by encountering with fluoride ion in aqueous with bathochromic shift of 320 nm. The corresponding color change of the solution after the interaction with fluoride is ascribed to the intra-molecular charge transfer (ICT) transition among the solution and fluoride ion complex and clearly distinguishable through naked eye and UV–vis spectra. This cost-effective, easily detectable, fast, non-hazardous, self-assembly driven colorimetric method has the concentration of detection of fluoride ion (2 mgL−1).

Fluoride (F) pollution is a major worldwide problem affecting approximately 200 million people. Hyperaccumulator plant Prosopis juliflora has been used for the removal of F from contaminated soils; however it's low F accumulation efficiency and low biomass limits the phytoremediation efficiency. Present study deals with enhancement of F uptake efficiency of plant P. juliflora through iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe

Under changing climatic conditions, high temperature stress is the most severe problem for the whole agriculture. Identification and utilization of crop plants which can sustain and yield better under high temperature conditions is need of the day. In this study, we established finger millet as thermotolerant crop. For this, we characterized thermotolerant cotton, thermosensitive wheat along with finger millet by MDA accumulation after heat stress and shown that finger millet is even better than cotton. Further, using seed germination test and growing seedlings at higher temperature, it was observed thatfinger millet was least affected at 42 oCwhereas germination percent and fresh weight reduced at 47 oC. With biochemical assay, it was shown that finger millet had very less difference at 42 oC as compared to 37 oC, however there is significant reduction at 47 oC in chlorophyll and carotenoid content and relative water content (RWC) percent whereas increase in electrolyte leakage (%) and H2O2 and O2 concentration. Still finger millet plants can tolerate temperature of 47 oC.Overall, the present study strongly identified finger millet as thermotolerant crop and can be utilized for allele mining of known genes and prospecting of novel genes for crop improvement for high temperature stress.

Fluoride (F) is a natural, ubiquitous, non-biodegradable and hazardous pollutant. To investigate its effect, Vigna radiata seeds were treated with NaF (0, 25, 50, 75, 100 mg NaF kg-1) and its effect was studied on germination, growth and RAPD profile. The variation in DNA profile in response to NaF treatment was detected by RAPD-PCR technique. The result of RAPD was observed in terms of GTS% (Genomic Template Stability). Results showed that there was gradual decrease in GTS% i.e. increase in DNA damage from 25 to 75 mg NaF kg-1 concentration. These data demonstrate that RAPD is a reliable tool and permits greater insights into the genetic alteration of V. radiata .