| Summary: | Green synthesized nanoparticles are believed to alleviate the detrimental effects of chemical fertilizers and the multidrug resistance of various microbial strains. This study evaluates the use of bush tea-mediated zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) for chickpea fertilization and assesses their cytotoxicity, antioxidant and antibacterial activity. The study demonstrated that the application of ZnO NPs improved the number of leaves, nodules, biomass and yield of chickpea cultivars under glasshouse conditions. The authors suggest that biosynthesized ZnO NPs are a good plant growth stimulant. The control with no nanoparticles application, had higher values of photosynthetic rate and water use efficiency in the Desi genotype whereas for the Kabuli genotype, 25 mg/L showed higher values of stomatal conductance and transpiration efficiency, while 15 mg/L gave the highest water use efficiency and photosynthetic rate. Furthermore, the inhibitory activities of bacteria were reported in which E. coli and S. aureus were the most sensitive bacterial strains. The ZnO NPs also quenched free radicals that demonstrate antioxidant activity. Thus, they can be beneficial to both plants and humans as they reduce oxidative stress that can cause diseases. Furthermore, toxicity to cells was evaluated and ZnO NPs were less toxic to the studied cells with IC50 values of 16.17 µg/mL and 21.30 µg/mL against lung cancer and embryonic cell lines. Thus, the use of ZnO nanoparticles with antimicrobial activity could help fight against several diseases attacking humans and plants.
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