Agroelementomics: Concept, Progress and Perspective in Analytical Techniques

Elements are fundamental constituents of matter, ubiquitous across agricultural systems-from crops and livestock to inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides-with profound implications for productivity and environmental quality. Responding to the need for precise element management in sustainable agriculture, this review proposed “Agroelementomics” as an interdisciplinary field. Agroelementomics characterizes the presence, concentration, distribution, and speciation of elements within agricultural organisms and matrices. It seeks to decode their roles in agricultural processes and their interactions with other omics layers, such as the genome and metabolome. Thus, its scope extends beyond individual elements to encompass the interplay of multiple elements and their collective impact on crop growth, food safety, and environmental health. Deciphering these complex interactions requires advanced elemental analysis. This review focused on analytical techniques for Agroelementomics, surveying cutting-edge methods-including spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and synchrotron-based approaches-for ultra-sensitive, high-throughput elemental analysis, and their applications, advantages, and limitations in analyzing agricultural samples and outline future directions were discussed. The future advancement of Agroelementomics hinges on creating more robust analytical frameworks with greater interference resistance and wider elemental coverage. Critical breakthroughs are needed in high-resolution isotope analysis, direct solid sampling, non-destructive techniques, and the characterization of elemental species and macromolecular complexes. Pushing the resolution to micro/nano and even single-cell levels, coupled with integrating artificial intelligence for data processing, would be pivotal. In application, agroelementomics must be integrated with other omics platforms (e.g., genomics, proteomics, metabolomics). By building cross-omics networks and leveraging their combined strengths, those fundamental questions in agricultural biology were addressed. Ultimately, this integration would be key to advancing crop breeding, nutrient management, pollution source tracking, and food quality safety, thereby providing a scientific foundation for sustainable agriculture.