Abstract:
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
UV 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 min with the absorption peak range of 400 –500 nm. SEM characterization captured
the AgNPs size varies from 0.11 μm to 2.23 μm. 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 R 2 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.
