In Vitro Antifungal Efficacy of Aspergillus niger ATCC 9642 Chitosan-AgNPs Composite Against Post-Harvest Disease of Citrus Fruits

Green and blue mold postharvest diseases are the most vital negative components influencing the local market of citrus fruits. Citrus fruits were collected, and fungi were isolated. Among the fungal isolates identified, Penicillium digitatum and Penicillium italicum recorded the highest occurrence of 39.5 and 25.6%, respectively. In this work, we extracted chitosan from Aspergillum niger ATCC 9642. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was utilized to confirm the functional groups of the obtained compound, which exhibited the main characteristic bands of O-H stretching at 3302 cm(-1), and C-O-C band at 1125 cm(-1). A. niger ATCC 9642 chitosan had the degree of deacetylation of 88.5%, a molecular weight of 1.8 x 10(5) Da, and viscosity of 7.3 centipoises; these values were comparable to those for standard shrimp chitosan. Ultraviolet-visible light spectra revealed the presence of A. niger ATCC 9642 chitosan-AgNPs composite. Using antifungal and spore germination assays, it was found that this composite exhibited effective antifungal action against P. digitatum and P. italicum compared with a chitosan standard. In a comet assay, the percentage of tail DNA was considered as a parameter that indicated DNA damage. The comet parameter increased significantly (P < 0.05) with A. niger ATCC 9642 chitosan-AgNPs composite, and the increase was dose-dependent. The increase in the DNA damage positively correlated with the inhibition performance of the A. niger ATCC 9642 chitosan-AgNPs composite.