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ABSTRACT
Plant world is such that is filled with microorganism. Both continue to grow in the same environment throughout their life cycle for many years. Over the years, economically important crop production and productivity worldwide have experienced continuous reductions as a result of plant diseases caused by phytopathogens such as viruses, bacteria, fungi and nematodes. The aim of this study was to determine the antifungal properties of zinc oxide nanoparticles. The fungal organism isolated from the tiger nut were Aspergillus subflavus, Rhizopus spp.. and Candida spp.. The zinc oxide nanoparticle was synthesized using Moringa oleifera leaf extract and it was characterized using a UV-VIS spectrophotometer to determine the absorbance value of the nanoparticles from a wavelength of 250-450nm. Agar well diffusion technique was used to test for the antifungal property of the test nanoparticles at different concentration (25, 50 and 100%). Ketoconazole, served as control. ZnONPs at all concentrations had insignificant inhibitory effect on Rhizopus sp. and Candida sp. (p>0.05) compared to the control. However, ZnONPs (50%) demonstrated significantly higher inhibitory activity on Aspergillus subflavus_TP-FLF5 OR073649 (p<0.05) compared to the control. The zones of inhibition ranged from (3.33 ± 0.94 to 14.00 ± 2.83 mm) and this was different from the control (6.67 ± 3.39mm). The study's findings indicate that zinc oxide nanoparticles synthesized with Moringa oleifera leaf extract have some antifungal activity against Aspergillus subflavus_TP-FLF5-OR073649 but demonstrated no inhibitory effect on the mycelia growth of Rhizopus sp. and Candida sp. Further studies should be carried out to investigate more on the use of Zinc oxide nanoparticles and screen other nanoparticles for antimicrobial activities as a means of controlling fungal pathogens to reduce crop loss, thereby ensuring food security.
