The present research evaluated the potential of propiconazole coated green-synthesized ZnO NPs from Sugarcane bagasse in the control of leaf spots caused by the fungus Alternaria alternata in Bottle gourd. ZnO NPs showed the poly crystalline behavior (100) as the most prominent peak in both coated and non-coated samples however less prominent peaks were observed at (110). Investigation on FTIR revealed that the absorption peaks of both the samples were found to be around 3321 cm -1 and 702 cm -1 .UV-Vis spectra showed high absorbance peaks at 366 and 374 nm for respective samples. The particles were verified to be homogenous and exhibit either a spherical or cubic morphology, with an average diameter of 24 and 44nm, using SEM analysis. The EDX spectra confirm the existence of ZnONPs with peaks corresponding to impurities in both coated and un- coated ZnO nanoparticles. An agar dilution method was used to screen different quantities of ZnO NPs at varying doses ranging from 30 to 110 µg/mL in the in vitro antifungal assay against A. alternata . The percentage of fungal growth suppression at 110 µg/mL was 86.33% in case of nonconjugated ZnO NPs and 96.67% in the presence of Propiconazole conjugated ZnO NPs (PC-ZnO NPs), indicating that the results were dose-dependent. To investigate the effectiveness of ZnO NPs in the suppression of Leaf Spot, Bottle gourd plants grown in pots were subjected to an in vivo experiment using treatment. In addition to the control group, treatments comprised varying doses of PC-ZnO NPs (300, 600, 900, 1200 and 1500 µg/mL). A considerable improvement in growth metrics, such as longer root and shoot lengths compared to the positive control, more leaves, fresh weight, and dry weights, was observed in the agronomic parameter assessment for plants treated with 900µg/mL. The outcomes demonstrated the enormous potential of NPs as a biocontrol agent for the management of Leaf spot of bottle gourd particularly at higher concentrations. The results of the present study indicated that the synthesized PC-ZnO NPs possess anti-fungal and nutritional properties that can assist in disease management, thereby improving the quality of growth of plants.
Aftab et al. (Sun,) studied this question.