2020 Volume 1 Issue 2 Pages 32-38
Nanoparticles are being applied for various uses, and their antimicrobial properties are increasingly explored as a green approach to tackling plant pathogens. Fungal diseases are one of the leading causes of crop destruction and the antifungal effect of ATZ nanoparticles, a combination of silver nitrate, titanium dioxide and zirconium dioxide, against phytopathogenic fungi is reported in this research. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of ATZ nanoparticles on mycelial growth and spore germination of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, a causal agent of anthracnose disease of chili seed. Potato dextrose agar (PDA) incorporating ATZ nanoparticles at the concentrations of 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 % w/v significantly delayed mycelial growth, and 6-8% completely inhibited spore germination. Whereas, at 2 and 4% caused significant reduction in the spore germination compared with control. Pre-treatment effect of ATZ nanoparticles on anthracnose disease and chili seed quality was determined for 0, 1, 2 and 3 months respectively. Artificial inoculated chili seeds were treated with 2 and 4% w/v ATZ nanoparticles compared with 0.15% w/v captan (fungicide) treated seeds and non-treated seeds. The results revealed that nanoparticles of 2% w/v ATZ showed the best results to suppress the seed infection and improve the chili seed quality as indicated by percentage of seed germination, germination index, mean germination time and growth rate of chili seedlings compared to the other treatments. Therefore, the application of ATZ nanoparticles appeared very important to improve the seed quality.
