Physiological and Biochemical Characterization of Tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum L.) Seedlings in Response to Mineral‐Based Seed Priming

Improving early seedling establishment is critical for enhancing crop performance under diverse agro‐climatic conditions. This study investigated the effect of seed priming with zinc and iron (as nanoparticles (NPs), ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) chelates, and sulfates) and iodine (as iodides) on tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum L. cv. Punjab Ratta) under complete randomized design (CRD). Seed priming with zinc nanoparticles (Zn‐NP) resulted in the highest germination percentage (95.00%), seed vigor index I (1215.05), total seedling length (12.79 cm), and fresh weight (0.41 g) among all other treatments. Zn‐NP also enhanced antioxidant enzyme activities, showing 23.25% increase in superoxide dismutase, 44.45% catalase, and 9.42% peroxidase activity as compared to control. Meanwhile, lipid peroxidation reduced by 63.30% malondialdehyde (MDA) content under the iron nanoparticles (Fe‐NP) treatment relative to control. Iodine treatments also performed better than the control but were less effective than zinc and iron treatments. Additionally, seed priming improved mobilization of seed reserves contributing to early seedling growth. Multivariate analyses (principal component analysis and heat map) also supported the superior performance of Zn‐NP and Fe‐NP treatments. Overall, zinc‐, iron‐, and iodine‐based seed priming, especially in the form of NPs, significantly improved germination, vigor, and oxidative stress tolerance in tomato.