"Biogenic synthesis, characterization of zinc oxide Nanoparticles and its efficacy against seed borne fungi of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)"

Abstract

The investigation of novel techniques for crop protection and enhancement has resulted from the growth in demand for environmentally friendly and sustainable agricultural practices. The current work concentrated on the green synthesis of ZnO-NPs and their characterization before looking into how effective they were against fungi that harm wheat harvests. Hamelia paten leaf extract was used in the synthesis of ZnO-NPs as a cost-effective and environmentally friendly method that used plant extracts as reducing and stabilizing agents. Subsequently optimized and further characterized via different analytical methods. The synthesis of ZnO-NPs was suggested by the absorption peak at 360 nm in UV-Vis spectrophotometry. ZnO-NPs' crystallinity was disclosed by High Resolution X-ray Diffraction (HR-XRD), and their size and form were revealed by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) images, which were found irregular with average particle size of about 42 nm. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) revealed the presence of different functional groups in the frequency range of 3000 to 450 cm-1. Further, the effectiveness of the synthesized ZnO-NPs as an antifungal agent against Bipolaris sorokiniana follows. In addition to the control (0 ppm), different concentrations such as 50, 100, 150, and 200 ppm were tested for their ability to prevent fungal growth. It revealed that the growth inhibition peaked at a concentration of 50 ppm, indicating that even relatively low concentrations of ZnO-NPs were effective at preventing fungal growth while extremely high concentrations of ZnO-NPs might not be.