Acarous calamus L. based nano-bio formulation as an alternative to synthetic fungicides against Aspergillus flavus Link

Carcinogenic Aflatoxins producing Aspergillus flavus contaminate food crops and pose health risks to humans and livestock. Synthetic fungicides are commonly used to control A. flavus, but they can have negative environmental and health impacts. Acarous calamus L., also known as sweet flag, is a plant with potential antifungal properties. Nanotechnology can enhance the effectiveness of plant extracts by increasing their surface area and allowing for better penetration. Current study focused to explore nano-bio formulation of A.calamus silver nanoparticle and comparative study of its efficacy on growth inhibition and reproduction of A. flavus. All the experiments were conducted in Complete Randomized Design (CRD), and data were subjected ANOVA using SAS 9.1 and Tukey's HSD multiple comparison test was used to determine the best treatment combination at P <0.05. The Jasco V-570 UV-VIS-NIR spectrophotometer results confirmed that the silver nanoparticle was synthesized at the optimum condition of optimum volume was found to as 25 mL of 0.01 mol L(-1) of silver nitrate, optimum time was found as 210 minutes with the absorption peak range of 400 nm - 500 nm. SEM characterization captured the AgNPs size varies from 0.11µm to 2.23µm. AgNPs concentration of 0.02 g inhibit the growth by 50% compared to A. calamus water extracts and >90% reduction in spore production reduction at . Moreover, growth inhibition percentage and rate spore production of A. flavus in Ag-Nano particle inoculated treatments were perfectly corelated with the R2 value of 0.96 at P <0.01& 0.05. This study concludes Nano-bio formulations show enhanced the efficiency and promise of plant-based solution as a natural fungicide against A. flavus. Field research is underway to fully understand the potential of this Nano-bio formulations.