<i>N</i> -Acetylcysteine in Agriculture: New Insights into Its Effects for Sustainable Crop Management

N-acetylcysteine (NAC), an amino acid naturally found in Allium plants, is well known for its health benefits in humans. However, its potential applications in plant health remain underexplored, especially considering that, although thousands of studies are published annually in clinical research, fewer than 10 focus on its use in plants each year. This review consolidates recent findings on the role of NAC as a potent antioxidant molecule in mitigating both biotic and abiotic stresses in plants, highlighting its valuable contributions to sustainable agriculture. NAC reduces oxidative stress by directly scavenging reactive oxygen species and indirectly increasing cysteine and glutathione levels, both critical for cellular defense responses. Moreover, NAC breaks intramolecular and intermolecular disulfide bonds in thiolated proteins, potentially further enhancing its antioxidant effects by releasing free thiols. It also functions as a chelating agent, binding to heavy metals and reducing their toxicity. Furthermore, NAC's efficacy in controlling bacterial infections in humans and animals—through mechanisms such as disrupting disulfide bonds in extracellular proteins and breaking down biofilm matrices—has been shown to extend to plant pathosystems, where it aids in suppressing bacterial pathogens. In addition to stress alleviation, NAC has been demonstrated to enhance crop productivity, improve food quality, and offer ecological benefits by promoting the health of pollinators and free-living soil organisms. These multifaceted attributes highlight NAC's potential as a key tool in agriculture, helping to improve plant resilience, support ecosystem balance, and advance sustainable crop management practices. [Formula: see text] Copyright © 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license .