Antifungal effects of ZnO, TiO2 and ZnO-TiO2 nanostructures on Aspergillus flavus

This study aimed to synthesis ZnO, TiO2, and ZnO–TiO2 (ratio weight of 1/1 for Zn/Ti) nanoparticles using zinc acetate and titanium isopropoxide through the sol-gel method. Physicochemical and morphological characterization and antifungal properties evaluation like minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicide concentration (MFC) of nanopowders were investigated against A.flavus in vitro. All synthesized nanoparticles (50 μg/ml) showed fungal growth inhibition, while ZnO-TiO2 showed higher antifungal activity against A. flavus than pure TiO2 and ZnO. TiO2 and ZnO-TiO2 (300 μg/ml) inhibited 100% of spur production. Pure ZnO and TiO2 showed pyramidal and spherical shapes, respectively, whereas ZnO-TiO2 nanopowders illustrated both spherical and pyramidal shapes with grown particles on the surface. Based on our findings, a low concentration (150 μg/ml) of ZnO-TiO2 showed higher ROS production and oxidative stress induction, thus the fungicide effect as compared to alone TiO2 and ZnO. In conclusion, ZnO-TiO2 nanostructure can be utilized as a useful antifungal compound, but more studies need to be performed to understand the antifungal mechanism of the nanoparticles rather than ROS inducing apoptosis.