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ABSTRACT
The cultivation of crop plants such as cassava is faced with challenges, including infection by pathogens, resulting in severe yield loss. The use of nanoparticles as antibacterial and antifungal treatments in controlling phytopathogens is gradually gaining importance. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of incubation period on the antifungal activities of magnesium oxide and calcium nanoparticles against pathogens isolated from diseased cassava plants. The nanoparticles were synthesized using Moringa oleifera leaf extract and incubated for different periods (24, 48, 78, 96 and 120 hours). A spectrophotometer was used to characterize the nanoparticles. To investigate the antifungal activities of nanoparticles, pathogens were isolated from diseased cassava plants and identified. The antifungal testing of the nanoparticles incubated for different periods against the isolated pathogens was done using the food poisoning method. The isolated pathogens were identified as Fusarium sp. And Aspergillus sp. The findings from this study indicated that the test nanoparticles exhibited negligible antifungal activity against the pathogens. However, some significant inhibitions were observed for some days; for example, magnesium oxide nanoparticles incubated for 48 hours gave a mycelia growth of 3.03 cm for Fusarium sp. on day 4 compared with the one incubated for 72 hours (8.20 cm). Future research should explore how incubation periods affect the physical properties of nanoparticles. This will help to increase their activity and harness potential applications in plant disease management.
