In the present era, the global need for food is increasing rapidly; nanomaterials are a useful tool for improving crop production and yield. The application of nanomaterials can improve plant growth parameters. Biotic stress is induced by many microbes in crops and causes disease and high yield loss. Every year, approximately 20%–40% of crop yield is lost due to plant diseases caused by various pests and pathogens. Current plant disease or biotic stress management mainly relies on toxic fungicides and pesticides that are potentially harmful to the environment. Nanotechnology emerged as an alternative for the sustainable and eco-friendly management of biotic stress induced by pests and pathogens on crops. In this review article, we assess the role and impact of different nanoparticles in plant disease management, and this review explores the direction in which nanoparticles can be utilized for improving plant growth and crop yield.

The biflavonoids 6,6"-bigenkwanin, amenthoflavone, 7,7"-dimethoxyagastisflavone and tetradimethoxybigenkwanin isolated from Ouratea species were tested for inhibitory activity on Aspergillus flavus cultures. Suspensions of Aspergillus flavus spores were inoculated into 50 ml of YES medium at different biflavonoid concentrations: 5 and 10 µg/ml for 6,6"-bigenkwanin, amenthoflavone and 7,7"-dimethoxyagastisflavone, and 5, 10, 15 and 20 µg/ml for tetradimethoxybigenkwanin. The four biflavonoids showed inhibitory activity on aflatoxin B1 and B2 production (P<0.001), but did not inhibit fungal growth at the concentration tested (P>0.05). These results show that biflavonoids can be used for the development of agents to control aflatoxin production.

The aqueous extract from Polymnia sonchifolia leaves (AE) was tested for inhibitory activity on aflatoxin B1(AFB1) production and growth of Aspergillus flavus. The cytotoxicity of AE on Vero cells was also performed. Suspensions of A. flavus spores were inoculated into 50 mL of YES medium together with different concentrations of the AE. The aflatoxin B1 was extracted, analyzed by thin layer chromatography and quantified by photodensitometry. All the concentrations of AE induced inhibition of AFB1 production. The aqueous extract showed in vitro cytotoxicity to Vero cells only at concentrations above 500 µg/mL. Key words: aflatoxin B1, Aspergillus flavus, Polymnia sonchifolia, cytotoxicityThis work reports the inhibitory activity of aqueous leaf extract from P. sonchifolia against Aspergillus flavus growth and aflatoxin B1 production, and citotoxicity to Vero cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS Preparation of plant extractLeaves of P. sonchifolia were collected in Capão Bonito city, São Paulo state, Brazil and dried at 40ºC. Dried leaves were pulverized in mill (Condux) to obtain a fine powder. The powdered leaves (100 g) were extracted with water at room temperature for 5 hours. After filtration and removal of water, the extract was lyophylized (Flaxidry mp). This aqueous extract (AE) was stored at 4ºC until use. Culture conditionsAspergillus flavus IMI 190 (Internatinal Mycology InstituteLondon) was grown on potato dextrose agar (Difco Laboratories, Detroit, Mich) plates for 10 days at 25ºC. The spore suspension used as inoculum was prepared washing the culture with sterile 0.01% solution of Tween 80 (Merck, Germany). The number of spores in suspension was determined through counting in a Neubauer Chamber.

Aflatoxina M1 é um dos metabólitos tóxico da aflatoxina B1, excretada pelo leite de animais que ingerem alimentos contaminados. O presente trabalho descreve o caso de uma fazenda produtora de leite na região de Itú, São Paulo, onde os animais foram alimentados com farelo de algodão naturalmente contaminado com as aflatoxinas. As aflatoxinas B1, B2, G1 e G2 foram identificadas por CCD e quantificadas por fotodensitometria nas concentrações de 43,5; 15,2; 9,1 e 8,6ng.g-1 respectivamente. O leite destes animais foi analisado por cromatografia líquida de alta eficiência (CLAE), e a aflatoxina M1 foi identificada e quantificada (0,64ng.mL-1). As concentrações encontradas para as aflatoxinas no farelo de algodão e no leite estão acima dos valores permitidos pela legislação brasileira, representando um risco à saúde pública.

Polymnia sonchifolia, commonly known as "yacon", was originally cultivated at Andes moutains in South America. Recently, the specie attracted worldwide attention because of its wide range of uses, for example in the control of diabetes melitus, besides the antifungal and pesticidal compounds were found in the leaves. This study describes the identification of two flavonoids: 3', 5, 7 trihydroxy-3, 4'-dimethoxyflavone (compound 1) and 3', 4', 5-trihydroxy-7-methoxy flavanone (compound 2) and two sesquiterpenes lactones: enhydrin (compound 3) and a mixture of enhydrin and uvedalin (compound 4) isolated from Polymnia sonchifolia leaves and their effects on the aflatoxin production by Aspergillus flavus. The identification of the compounds were achieved by 1 H and 13 C NMR. All compounds were tested in different concentration, to evaluate the growth of Aspergillus flavus culture and the production of aflatoxin. The compound 1, at the concentration 15 μg/mL, inhibited 25% of the aflatoxin B1 production (p<0.01). The compound 4 inhibited 34% and 76% of the fungal growth and AFB1 production respectively. These results show that Polymnia sonchifolia can be used for the development of agents to control aflatoxin B1 production by Aspergillus flavus.