ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sustain. Food Syst.
Sec. Crop Biology and Sustainability
This article is part of the Research TopicNanotechnology-enabled Agriculture and its Environmental ImpactView all 5 articles
Foliar application of surfactant-stabilized nanoscale zero-valent iron inhibits fluoranthene accumulation and alleviates phytotoxicity in tomato
Provisionally accepted
- Weifang University of Science and Technology, Shouguang, China
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To inhibit the uptake and accumulation of fluoranthene (Flu) in tomatoes cultivated in Flu-contaminated soil, foliar application of nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI) was employed. The dispersion stability of nZVI was optimized by screening surfactant types (IGEPAL® CA-720, HPCD, APG, Brij-35) and concentrations (0.1-1 g/L), followed by evaluating the inhibitory effects of nZVI at varying concentrations (0.1-1 g/L) on Flu accumulation, growth, and physiological parameters in tomatoes. The results showed that 0.5g/L IGEPAL® CA-720 was the optimal dispersant, which reduced the average particle size of nZVI to 150nm, with a Zeta potential of -26.8mV and a 24h total iron retention rate of 92%. On this basis, spraying 0.5g/L nZVI (Tn3 treatment) exhibited the best inhibitory effect. A surfactant-only control (Ts: Flu-contaminated soil + 0.5 g/L IGEPAL® CA-720) was added to distinguish component effects. Compared with the sole Flu contaminated treatment (T), this control only slightly reduced Flu accumulation, by 8.2% in shoots and 6.2% in roots, and alleviated growth inhibition, with an 11.4% increase in plant height and an 11.3% increase in shoot fresh weight. In contrast, Tn3 treatment significantly outperformed Ts. Compared with the T treatment, the Flu contents in shoots and roots of tomatoes in Tn3 treatment decreased by 62.4% and 30.7%, respectively, while the bioconcentration factor (BCF) and translocation factor (TF) decreased by 38.9% and 46.1%, respectively. Meanwhile, Tn3 treatment significantly alleviated the inhibition of Flu stress on tomato growth: plant height and biomass increased by 36.4% and 61.3% compared with T treatment, recovering to 85.7% and 79.8% of those in the uncontaminated treatment (CK). The activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT) and the content of malondialdehyde (MDA) in Tn3 treatment significantly decreased by 31.2%-35.1% and 41.2% compared with T treatment. This study demonstrates that foliar application of 0.5 g/L nZVI dispersed with 0.5 g/L IGEPAL® CA-720 effectively inhibits Flu accumulation and mitigates stress damage in tomatoes, providing a practical strategy for crop safety in contaminated soils.
Keywords: Dispersant, fluoranthene, nanoscale zero-valent iron, Tomato, Uptakeinhibition
Received: 08 Sep 2025; Accepted: 09 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Xu, Yang, Liu, Gao, Chen, Li, Tang and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yuanzhou Xu
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