Advancements in Metal-Organic Frameworks for Plant Hormone Regulation: Integration Mechanism, Design Principles, and Implementation Concerns

Abstract

Growth and stress tolerance in crop plants could be improved with smart delivery systems, such as growth hormone regulation. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) offer atomic-level tunability, high porosity, surface chemistry, stimuli-responsiveness, and compatibility in composites, enabling them to meet the demands of smart and regulated hormone delivery systems. An encapsulated growth hormone in MOF porous structures can be released in a controllable way using external stimuli. MOFs offer the potential output for a new era of crop management with sustainability and exacting responses to environmental pressures and climate variation context. However, actual deployment of MOFs in smart and regulated hormone delivery systems requires careful attention to biodegradation profiles, cost of manufacture, and environmental safety aspects. Recent developments in bio-derived and green MOF synthesis techniques showed viable solutions to lower environmental concerns without reducing delivery effectiveness. Furthermore, a comprehensive understanding of plant-MOF interactions at physiological and molecular levels is crucial for optimizing hormone release under variable field circumstances. This insight is essential for converting laboratory-scale MOF-hormone systems into viable and scalable agricultural applications. Thus, the present work comprehensively evaluated the recent developments in MOFs fabrication and tunability, plant hormones integration, interaction mechanisms, modulation, impact on plant growth, integrated input of MOFs and hormones, MOFs as host matrices for plant hormones, future perspective, and critical insight on realistic implementation in sustainable agriculture.