Self-assembled plant-based biomass materials for enhancing sustainable agriculture and food security

Abstract

Agrochemicals are widely utilized to improve crop yields and will continue to be used to secure the global demand for food when facing the growing global population (2050, 10 billion). However, a large amount of agrochemicals, especially nanopesticides and nanofertilizers, are lost to the environment, resulting in a significant effect on the ecosystem and food safety problems. Plant-based biomass materials, as the most abundant renewable resource, have attracted considerable interest in developing various functional nanoagrochemicals due to their eco-friendly and biocompatible attributes. Moreover, these materials are often used to tailor functional nanoagrochemicals with targeted and controlled release of active ingredients abilities from self-assembly due to their unique chemical and physical properties. In this review, the main non-covalent interactions of cellulose, lignin, and polyphenols were presented, which facilitate the design of functional nanoagrochemicals. Additionally, the new opportunities for the application of plant-based nanoagrochemicals to improve the use efficiency by achieving targeting or stimuli-responsiveness capabilities were emphasized. Furthermore, the applications of plant-based nanoagrochemicals in agricultural practices are reviewed. This review can offer a valuable overview for deepening the understanding of the design and development of plant-based nanoagrochemicals for the efficient utilization of agrochemicals.