Potential Antifungal Effects of D. malabarica Assisted Zinc Oxide and Silver Nanoparticles against Sheath Blight Disease of Rice Caused by Rhizoctonia solani

The plant based synthesis of nanoparticles ( NPs) has become a promising substitute to the conventional chemical synthesis methods that involved the environmental hazardous chemicals. This study is designed to evaluate the antifungal potential of Diospyros malabarica leaves assisted zinc oxide (ZnO) and silver (Ag) NPs as an eco-friendly green route against R. solani causing sheath blight disease of rice. The physicochemical characteristics of ZnO and Ag-NPs were studied using the UV-Vis spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive x-ray (EDX) spectroscopy. The Ag-NPs showed a phenomenal peak at 416 nm. The morphology of ZnO and Ag-NPs was observed using SEM as they were spherical in shape with a few agglomeration and smooth surface. The EDX elemental detection spectrum showed that both the ZnO and Ag-NPs were in pure form. The antifungal in vitro assay was performed using poison food technique against R. solani. The findings of growth inhibition assay have shown that R. solani was more sensitive to the Ag-NPs (61.8%) as compared to ZnO-NPs (51.1 %). It can be concluded that plant assisted NPs could be possible alternative for the inhibition of fungal plant disease contrary to the synthetic fungicides in biological domains. Overall, this study suggested that plant assisted ZnO and Ag-NPs can be an attractive and green candidate to control rice fungal disease. This study may perhaps strengthen a new green chemistry approach for environmental science and biomedical applications. [GRAPHICS] .