Chapter 5 - Mycosynthesis of nanoparticles for smart agricultural practice: A green and eco-friendly approach

Abstract

Nanotechnology has been a growing field over the current decade, showing promising applications in the medical, electronics, photonics, and catalyst industries. The nanoforms of metals and nanocomposites make them more effective and efficient tools than their bulky counterparts due to specific physical, chemical, and optical properties. Different techniques have been developed to synthesize nanoparticles to expand the spectrum of their application. In this chapter, we review the mycosynthesis of nanomaterials and their applications in sustainable agriculture. Mycosynthesis provides a green route for the synthesis of nontoxic and eco-friendly nanomaterials that are compatible with biological applications. Different fungal genera have been revealed as useful for synthesis of metal nanoparticles, among them Aspergillus and Fusarium were especially useful for the synthesis of Au, Ag, Ti, Zn, Ce, Fe, Mg, P, and Pt metal and their metal oxide nanoparticles. Silver metal has been explored extensively for mycosynthesis by various fungal strains, and the produced nanomaterials exhibited high antimicrobial activity compared with conventional agents. Different reductase enzyme systems are involved in metal or metal oxide nanoparticle synthesis. Mycosynthesized nanoparticles have shown potential in nanofertilizer and nanopesticidal applications to promote sustainable agricultural practices.