Application of Microbial-Synthesized Nanoparticles …
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easy to culture, simpler biomass handling, and most importantly extracellular
synthesis. To date, several fungi have been used for the synthesis of a variety of
nanoparticles (Yadav et al. 2015). Among metal nanoparticles, AgNPs have been
extensively studied due to their promising biological activities, particularly antimicrobial activity. AgNPs reported to have antimicrobial activity against a variety
of pathogens including food spoiling organisms. Devi and Joshi (2015) evaluated
the potential of three different endophytic fungi, viz. Aspergillus tamarii PFL2,
Aspergillus niger PFR6, and Penicillium ochrochloron PFR8 towards the synthesis
of AgNPs. The results obtained showed that A. tamarii PFL2 synthesized smallest
size nanoparticles (i.e., average particle size of 3.5 ± 3 nm) compared to the nanoparticles synthesized by the other two fungi A. niger PFR6 (8.7 ± 6 nm) and P.
ochrochloron PFR8 (7.7 ± 4.3 nm). Similarly, Guilger-Casagrande and de Lima
(2019) reviewed the role of various fungi in the synthesis of AgNPs.
Apart from AgNPs, other nanoparticles such as gold, copper, silver–gold alloy,
etc. have been produced using different fungi. Dhanasekar et al. (2015) demonstrated
extracellular synthesis of AuNPs using Alternaria sp. Further, they also studied the
effect of different concentration of gold chloride solution on the size of nanoparticles.
The TEM analysis performed revealed that nanoparticles with varied shape such as
spherical, rod, square, pentagonal, and hexagonal were synthesized for 1 mM gold
chloride. However, formation of quasi-spherical and spherical nanoparticles/heart
shape nanoparticles having size in the range of 7–13 and 15–18 nm were observed
for 0.3 and 0.5 mM gold chloride solution, respectively. Molnár et al. (2018) demonstrated extracellular synthesis of AuNPs having size range of 6–40 nm using thermophilic filamentous fungi. It has been shown that xylanases produced by A. niger
and Trichoderma longibrachiatum fabricated AgNPs, AuNPs, and Ag-AuNPs with
potent antimicrobial and antioxidant activities among others (Elegbede et al. 2018,
2019, 2020).
Zielonka and Klimek-Ochab (2017) reviewed the role of various species of
Fusarium in the synthesis of different nanoparticles. The authors concluded that
among fungi, F. oxysporum can be used as efficient microbial system for the
simple, rapid and large-scale synthesis of nanoparticles. Recently, Noor et al. (2020)
proposed an eco-friendly, cost-effective, and easily scalable methods for the biological synthesis of copper nanoparticles using A. niger strain STA9. Further, authors
evaluated their anticancer, antidiabetic, and antibacterial activities. It was reported
that these nanoparticles showed significant anticancer and antidiabetic activities.
Moreover, they were also found to be effective against different bacteria such
as Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Micrococcus
luteus, and Bacillus subtilis.
In addition, there are many reports on the synthesis of some other nanoparticles from fungi which mainly include synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles from
A. niger (Shamim et al. 2019), and selenium nanoparticles using Trichoderma atroviride (Joshi et al. 2019). All the above studies clearly indicate that fungi can be
efficiently used for the synthesis of different nanoparticles which can be used for
various purposes including applications in food industries.
403
easy to culture, simpler biomass handling, and most importantly extracellular
synthesis. To date, several fungi have been used for the synthesis of a variety of
nanoparticles (Yadav et al. 2015). Among metal nanoparticles, AgNPs have been
extensively studied due to their promising biological activities, particularly antimicrobial activity. AgNPs reported to have antimicrobial activity against a variety
of pathogens including food spoiling organisms. Devi and Joshi (2015) evaluated
the potential of three different endophytic fungi, viz. Aspergillus tamarii PFL2,
Aspergillus niger PFR6, and Penicillium ochrochloron PFR8 towards the synthesis
of AgNPs. The results obtained showed that A. tamarii PFL2 synthesized smallest
size nanoparticles (i.e., average particle size of 3.5 ± 3 nm) compared to the nanoparticles synthesized by the other two fungi A. niger PFR6 (8.7 ± 6 nm) and P.
ochrochloron PFR8 (7.7 ± 4.3 nm). Similarly, Guilger-Casagrande and de Lima
(2019) reviewed the role of various fungi in the synthesis of AgNPs.
Apart from AgNPs, other nanoparticles such as gold, copper, silver–gold alloy,
etc. have been produced using different fungi. Dhanasekar et al. (2015) demonstrated
extracellular synthesis of AuNPs using Alternaria sp. Further, they also studied the
effect of different concentration of gold chloride solution on the size of nanoparticles.
The TEM analysis performed revealed that nanoparticles with varied shape such as
spherical, rod, square, pentagonal, and hexagonal were synthesized for 1 mM gold
chloride. However, formation of quasi-spherical and spherical nanoparticles/heart
shape nanoparticles having size in the range of 7–13 and 15–18 nm were observed
for 0.3 and 0.5 mM gold chloride solution, respectively. Molnár et al. (2018) demonstrated extracellular synthesis of AuNPs having size range of 6–40 nm using thermophilic filamentous fungi. It has been shown that xylanases produced by A. niger
and Trichoderma longibrachiatum fabricated AgNPs, AuNPs, and Ag-AuNPs with
potent antimicrobial and antioxidant activities among others (Elegbede et al. 2018,
2019, 2020).
Zielonka and Klimek-Ochab (2017) reviewed the role of various species of
Fusarium in the synthesis of different nanoparticles. The authors concluded that
among fungi, F. oxysporum can be used as efficient microbial system for the
simple, rapid and large-scale synthesis of nanoparticles. Recently, Noor et al. (2020)
proposed an eco-friendly, cost-effective, and easily scalable methods for the biological synthesis of copper nanoparticles using A. niger strain STA9. Further, authors
evaluated their anticancer, antidiabetic, and antibacterial activities. It was reported
that these nanoparticles showed significant anticancer and antidiabetic activities.
Moreover, they were also found to be effective against different bacteria such
as Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Micrococcus
luteus, and Bacillus subtilis.
In addition, there are many reports on the synthesis of some other nanoparticles from fungi which mainly include synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles from
A. niger (Shamim et al. 2019), and selenium nanoparticles using Trichoderma atroviride (Joshi et al. 2019). All the above studies clearly indicate that fungi can be
efficiently used for the synthesis of different nanoparticles which can be used for
various purposes including applications in food industries.