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Abstract This review article highlights recent advances in designing biomaterials to be interfaced with food and plants, with the goal of enhancing the resilience of the AgroFood infrastructure by boosting crop production, mitigating environmental impact, and reducing losses along the supply chain. Special attention is given to innovations in biomaterial‐based approaches and platforms for 1) seed enhancement through encapsulation, preservation, and controlled release of payloads (e.g., plant growth‐promoting microbes) to the seeds and their rhizosphere; 2) precision delivery of multi‐scale payloads to targeted plant tissues, organelles, and vasculature; 3) edible food coatings that regulate gas exchanges and provide antimicrobial properties to extend the shelf life of perishable food; and 4) food spoilage detection based on different sensor/reporter systems. Within each domain, biomaterials design principles, emerging micro‐/nanofabrication strategies, and the advantages and disadvantages of different delivery/preservation/sensing platforms are introduced and critically discussed. Views of future requirements, aims, and trends are also given based on the opportunities and challenges of applying biomaterials in the AgroFood system. 

Abstract Delivery of proteins in plant cells can facilitate the design of desired functions by modulation of biological processes and plant traits but is currently limited by narrow host range, tissue damage, and poor scalability. Physical barriers in plants, including cell walls and membranes, limit protein delivery to desired plant tissues. Herein, a cationic high aspect ratio polymeric nanocarriers (PNCs) platform is developed to enable efficient protein delivery to plants. The cationic nature of PNCs binds proteins through electrostatic. The ability to precisely design PNCs’ size and aspect ratio allowed us to find a cutoff of ≈14 nm in the cell wall, below which cationic PNCs can autonomously overcome the barrier and carry their cargo into plant cells. To exploit these findings, a reduction‐oxidation sensitive green fluorescent protein (roGFP) is deployed as a stress sensor protein cargo in a model plantNicotiana benthamianaand common crop plants, including tomato and maize. In vivo imaging of PNC‐roGFP enabled optical monitoring of plant response to wounding, biotic, and heat stressors. These results show that PNCs can be precisely designed below the size exclusion limit of cell walls to overcome current limitations in protein delivery to plants and facilitate species‐independent plant engineering. 

Abstract Soft robots have attracted great attention in the past decades owing to their unique flexibility and adaptability for accomplishing tasks via simple control strategies, as well as their inherent safety for interactions with humans and environments. Here, a soft robotic manipulation system capable of stiffness variation and dexterous operations through a remotely controlled manner is reported. The smart manipulation system consists of a soft omnidirectional arm, a dexterous multimaterial gripper, and a self‐powered human–machine interface (HMI) for teleoperation. The cable‐driven soft arm is made of soft elastomers and embedded with low melting point alloy as a stiffness‐tuning mechanism. The self‐powered HMI patches are designed based on the triboelectric nanogenerator that utilizes a sliding mode of tribo‐layers made of copper and polytetrafluoroethylene. The novel soft manipulation system has great potential for soft and remote manipulation and human machine interactions in a variety of applications from elderly care to surgical operation to agriculture harvesting. 

Abstract Innovative human–machine interfaces (HMIs) have attracted increasing attention in the field of system control and assistive devices for disabled people. Conventional HMIs that are designed based on the interaction of physical movements or language communication are not effective or appliable to severely disabled users. Here, a breath‐driven triboelectric sensor is reported consisting of a soft fixator and two circular‐shaped triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) for self‐powered respiratory monitoring and smart system control. The sensor device is capable of effectively detecting the breath variation and generates responsive electrical signals based on different breath patterns without affecting the normal respiration. A breathing‐driven HMI system is demonstrated for severely disabled people to control electrical household appliances and shows an intelligent respiration monitoring system for emergence alarm. The new system provides the advantages of high sensitivity, good stability, low cost, and ease of use. This work will not only expand the development of the TENGs in self‐powered sensors, but also opens a new avenue to develop assistive devices for disabled people through innovation of advanced HMIs. 

Abstract The precise deployment of functional payloads to plant tissues is a new approach to help advance the fundamental understanding of plant biology and accelerate plant engineering. Here, the design of a silk‐based biomaterial is reported to fabricate a microneedle‐like device, dubbed “phytoinjector,” capable of delivering a variety of payloads ranging from small molecules to large proteins into specific loci of various plant tissues. It is shown that phytoinjector can be used to deliver payloads into plant vasculature to study material transport in xylem and phloem and to perform complex biochemical reactions in situ. In another application, it is demonstratedAgrobacterium‐mediated gene transfer to shoot apical meristem (SAM) and leaves at various stages of growth. Tuning of the material composition enables the fabrication of another device, dubbed “phytosampler,” which is used to precisely sample plant sap. The design of plant‐specific biomaterials to fabricate devices for drug deliveryin plantaopens new avenues to enhance plant resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, provides new tools for diagnostics, and enables new opportunities in plant engineering. 

Abstract Soil sensors and plant wearables play a critical role in smart and precision agriculture via monitoring real‐time physical and chemical signals in the soil, such as temperature, moisture, pH, and pollutants and providing key information to optimize crop growth circumstances, fight against biotic and abiotic stresses, and enhance crop yields. Herein, the recent advances of the important soil sensors in agricultural applications, including temperature sensors, moisture sensors, organic matter compounds sensors, pH sensors, insect/pest sensors, and soil pollutant sensors are reviewed. Major sensing technologies, designs, performance, and pros and cons of each sensor category are highlighted. Emerging technologies such as plant wearables and wireless sensor networks are also discussed in terms of their applications in precision agriculture. The research directions and challenges of soil sensors and intelligent agriculture are finally presented.