The Effect of Zinc Oxide, Copper, and Silver Nanoparticles Synthesized by the Green Method for Controlling Strawberry Gray Mold Fungus, B. Cinerea Pers

Gray mold disease, caused by the fungus Botrytis cinerea, causes heavy losses in strawberries. The use of chemical fungicides due to the dangers for humans and the environment has caused attention to reduce their consumption and use biological methods. In this research, the effects of zinc oxide, copper, and silver nanoparticles have been synthesized from an aqueous extract of cloves, and the probiotic bacteria Lactobacillus casei by the green method was investigated on the gray mold disease of strawberries. The results showed that concentrations of 10% of zinc oxide nanoparticles synthesized from aqueous extract of cloves can completely control this pathogen on the culture medium and the fruit. Zinc and silver nanoparticles produced by Lactobacillus casei prevented 93.7% and 81% of fungal growth in the culture medium, respectively. Other treatments did not show a good inhibitory effect on the fungus. All treatments were able to prevent 100% to 50% of fungal growth after 96 hours on strawberries. The investigation of the storage characteristics showed the positive effect of the examined nanoparticles on reducing the rate of change of the physicochemical characteristics of the strawberry fruit tissue. Apparent decay was significantly reduced and samples treated with nanoparticles scored higher in sensory evaluation compared to control. Also, investigating the toxicity of nanoparticles in this experiment on the HepG2 cell line showed that Compared to the control, copper and zinc nanoparticles did not have significant toxicity on cells, but silver nanoparticles led to 25% cell death. This research provides promising results in the field of using nanoparticles for pre-harvest and post-harvest control of plant diseases.