Evaluation of cytotoxicity, biochemical profile and yield components of groundnut plants treated with nano-selenium

Knowledge about the risks of the nanoparticles application on the plant development and human health is still limited. Different concentrations of nano-selenium (0, 20 and 40 ppm) were applied to three different Egyptian groundnut (Arachis hypogaea l.) cultivars; (NC, Gregory and Giza 6) under sandy soil conditions at vegetative growth stage to investigate their effects on yield components, protein profile, fatty acids composition, total antioxidant content and cytotoxicity of yielded seeds. The results indicate that the tested Nano-Selenium (Nano-Se) concentrations improved yield components and seeds oil. However, Nano-Se altered protein signatures as well as fatty acids composition by increasing unsaturated fatty acids and/or decreasing saturated fatty acids as compared with control, the cytotoxicity assessments proved safety of the yield for human health.