Effects of Larrea nitida nanodispersions on the growth inhibition of phytopathogens

ROCHA, FELIPE; NUNES CALUMBY, RODRIGO JOSE; SORTINO, MAXIMILIANO; SVETAZ, LAURA; TEIXIERA RIBEIRO VIGIDAL, MARCIA CRISTINA; CAMPOS-BERMUDEZ, VALERIA ALINA; RIUS, SEBASTIÁN PABLO

Applied Microbiology Biotechnology express

Springer

Año: 2023

Larrea nitida Cav. (Zygophyllaceae) is a plant endemic to Argentina and Chile, and itsextract has been studied over the last years due to the presence of antimicrobialagents that can be used to control the growth of some pathogens in agriculture.However, the extract is highly hydrophobic, which strongly affects its fungicidal activityin aqueous media. In this sense, the solid dispersion technique was used to produce L.nitida extract nanodispersions with polyethylene glycol (PLE) and with polyethyleneglycol and zinc acetate (PZLE). In order to further evaluate the activity of the extract inPLE and PZLE, blank nanodispersions containing only polyethylene glycol (PEG) andzinc acetate (PZ) without the addition of the extract were also produced. The fungicidalactivity of the water-soluble nanoparticles was evaluated at different concentrations(0.037 - 0.110 g.mL-1). In general, the nanoparticles were successfully produced on ananometric size and a significant inhibitory activity on the growth of the pathogensFusarium oxysporum and Fusarium verticillioides in aqueous media. Compared toPLE, PZLE presented increased fungistatic activity, possibly due to their increasedsolubility in water when compared to the pristine extract. Even though their applicationin agriculture should be further investigated, the nanodispersions present greatpotential to be applied as a green biotechnological tool.