Scientific Reports (Mar 2024)

Comprehensive antifungal investigation of green synthesized silver nanoformulation against four agriculturally significant fungi and its cytotoxic applications

  • Jyoti Singh,
  • Ankit Kumar,
  • Amit Singh Nayal,
  • Sagar Vikal,
  • Gyanika Shukla,
  • Amardeep Singh,
  • Anupma Singh,
  • Sakshi Goswami,
  • Ashwani Kumar,
  • Yogendra K. Gautam,
  • Yeshvandra Verma,
  • Shailendra Singh Gaurav,
  • Dharmendra Pratap

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-56619-9
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14, no. 1
pp. 1 – 16

Abstract

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Abstract The present study reports the green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in powder form using the leaf extract of Azadirachta indica. The synthesis of AgNPs was confirmed by UV–vis spectroscopy, FTIR, XRD, FESEM, and EDX. The synthesized AgNPs were in a powdered state and dispersed completely in 5% polyethylene glycol (PEG) and demonstrated prolonged shelf life and enhanced bioavailability over a year without any aggregation. The resulting silver nanoformulation demonstrated complete inhibition against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Colletotrichum falcatum and 68% to 80% inhibition against Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and Rhizoctonia solani respectively, at 2000 ppm. The EC50 values determined through a statistical analysis were 66.42, 157.7, 19.06, and 33.30 ppm for S. sclerotiorum, C. falcatum, C. gloeosporioides, and R. solani respectively. The silver nanoformulation also established significant cytotoxicity, with a 74.96% inhibition rate against the human glioblastoma cell line U87MG at 250 ppm. The IC50 value for the cancerous cell lines was determined to be 56.87 ppm through statistical analysis. The proposed silver nanoformulation may be used as a next-generation fungicide in crop improvement and may also find application in anticancer investigations. To the best of our knowledge, this is also the first report of silver nanoformulation demonstrating complete inhibition against the economically significant phytopathogen C. falcatum.

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