Anyone who tried to keep veranda plants or a home garden alive through seasonal changes, knows that it is a task more easily said than done. Abrupt temperature changes – such as cold snaps – and long -term periods of drought, plants can strive, disrupting their normal biochemistry. If it is not tackled fast enough, that stress can eventually kill the plant. Disappointed growers often only see the meaningful signs (such as shriveling or tanning leaves) after it is too late. But a new vegetable device developed by researchers from the American Chemical Society could offer an early warning system.
The portable, This week detailed in the magazine ACS -sensors” Comes in the form of an electromagnetic sensor that is attached directly to plant leaves. The aim is to detect hydrogen peroxide, a chemical plants that unlock when exposing to environmental stress. The sensor consists of a range of microscopic plastic needles mounted on a flexible base. That base is covered with a chitosan -based hydrogel that is able to detect small amounts of hydrogen peroxide, which is then converted into an electric current. The presence of that current warns growers of the stress levels of their plants.
Credit: Adapted ACS sensors 2025, DOI: 10.1021/ACSSSENSORS.4C02645
In various experiments, the portable accurately identified the presence of hydrogen peroxide in groups of plants exposed to a pathogen. In theory, the research notes that a similar type of portable can be applied to larger crop yields as an affordable way to detect stressed plants before they are outside of saving.
“This sensor technology can function as a portable device for on-site measurement of reactive oxygen species in plants, which offers a quick and cost-effective solution for hydrogen peroxide quantification,” the researchers write in the article.
Identifies the minds
A number of environmental factors – such as drought, high salt content and vermin or pathogens – can cause stress in plants. When that happens, plants naturally produce hydrogen peroxide, which according to researchers “serves as an indicator for acute stress.” This signals plant cells to activate different defense mechanisms. If the stressors persist for too long, they can eventually kill the plant. In the past, researchers followed early signs of plant stress by taking small samples or observing changes in fluorescence. But none of these options are perfect. Taking samples can damage a plant and cause stress itself and the search for fluorescent changes can be difficult to detect.
That is where the plant comes in portable. By attaching an electrochemical sensor directly to the leaves of a plant, the researchers believed that they could get a near-instant reaction and at the same time retained the physical disruption of the plant. In practice, the Miconoedles of the sensor would penetrate the plant tissue and detect hydrogen peroxide without the need to collect leaf extractions. The microneedle surface is covered with a thin layer of gold, mixed with a bio-hydrogel composed of biocompatible and hydrophilic chitosan and horseradish peroxidase enzymes.
Credit: Adapted ACS sensors 2025, DOI: 10.1021/ACSSSENSORS.4C02645
Researchers confirmed these sensors to different groups of tobacco and soybean plants. Some of those plants were called to be called a bacterial tathogenic Pseudomonas syringae pv. Tomato DC3000 While the operating elements remained healthy. As expected, the sensors that have been attached to the infected plants quickly showed signs of hydrogen peroxide, which indicates voltage. Researchers say that the electric power levels measured by the sensors were also “directly related” with the amount of hydrogen peroxide. The same patches can be reused up to nine times before the needles worn out and lost their shape.
“We can reach direct measurements in less than a minute for less than a dollar per test,” said researcher and paper co -author Liang Dong in a statement. “This breakthrough will significantly streamline the analysis, making it practical for farmers to use our patch sensor for real-time diseaseraining monitoring.”
Dong and his co -authors are optimistic that this technology may be scaled up to help farmers and gardeners remotely control their plants for signs of health disturbance. It is part of a larger, emerging trend in the agricultural industry to record AI-Intended security sensors And even autonomous robots to take care of plants around the clock. And the bet is high. Every year, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture estimates That around 20-30 percent of global crease production is lost due to vermin and illness, which translates into estimated losses that exceed $ 220 billion.
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