Antifungal Effects of Silver Nanoparticles (AgNPs) against Various Plant Pathogenic Fungi

Mycobiology. 2012 Mar;40(1):53-8. doi: 10.5941/MYCO.2012.40.1.053. Epub 2012 Mar 31.

Abstract

This research is concerned with the fungicidal properties of nano-size silver colloidal solution used as an agent for antifungal treatment of various plant pathogens. We used WA-CV-WA13B, WA-AT-WB13R, and WA-PR-WB13R silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) at concentrations of 10, 25, 50, and 100 ppm. Eighteen different plant pathogenic fungi were treated with these AgNPs on potato dextrose agar (PDA), malt extract agar, and corn meal agar plates. We calculated fungal inhibition in order to evaluate the antifungal efficacy of silver nanoparticles against pathogens. The results indicated that AgNPs possess antifungal properties against these plant pathogens at various levels. Treatment with WA-CV-WB13R AgNPs resulted in maximum inhibition of most fungi. Results also showed that the most significant inhibition of plant pathogenic fungi was observed on PDA and 100 ppm of AgNPs.

Keywords: Antifungal effect; Pathogenic fungi; Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs).