Improvement of the Morphophysiological Parameters of Pepper after the Presowing Treatment of Seeds with Zinc Nanoparticles

Advanced nanotechnologies allow synthesizing nanoparticles (NPs) with the given physical and chemical properties providing an opportunity to study the effects and mechanisms of the influence of NPs on plants in order to improve their productivity. In this study, Zn NPs introduced in the polymer coating are used as a preparation for the presowing treatment of pepper seeds. It is found that Zn NPs in concentrations of 10^–5 and 10^–6% in the composition of polymers accelerated plant growth and led to a significant increase in the number of leaves and buds, while the root mass volume increased on average by 10–30% compared to the control plants. After seed treatment with Zn NPs with a concentration of 10^–6%, the proline content in plant leaves increases by 58% (p ≤ 0.05); and the protein content, by 20% (p ≤ 0.05). The treatment of seeds with Zn NPs at a concentration of 10^–5% leads to the sugar content increasing by 36% (p ≤ 0.05), and the chlorophyll content, by 52% (p ≤ 0.05) compared with the control.