Synthesis of chitosan based nanoparticles and their in vitro evaluation against phytopathogenic fungi.

The main aim of present study was to prepare chitosan, chitosan-saponin and Cu-chitosan nanoparticles to evaluate their in vitro antifungal activities. Various nanoparticles were prepared using ionic gelation method by interaction of chitosan, sodium tripolyphosphate, saponin and Cu ions. Their particle size, polydispersity index, zeta potential and structures were confirmed by DLS, FTIR, TEM and SEM. The antifungal properties of nanoparticles against phytopathogenic fungi namely Alternaria alternata, Macrophomina phaseolina and Rhizoctonia solani were investigated at various concentrations ranging from 0.001 to 0.1%. Among the various formulations of nanoparticles, Cu-chitosan nanoparticles were found most effective at 0.1% concentration and showed 89.5, 63.0 and 60.1% growth inhibition of A. alternata, M. phaseolina and R. solani, respectively in in vitro model. At the same concentration, Cu-chitosan nanoparticles also showed maximum of 87.4% inhibition rate of spore germination of A. alternata. Chitosan nanoparticles showed the maximum growth inhibitory effects (87.6%) on in vitro mycelial growth of M. phaseolina at 0.1% concentration. From our study it is evident that chitosan based nanoparticles particularly chitosan and Cu-chitosan nanoparticles have tremendous potential for further field screening towards crop protection.