Preparation and characterization of curcumin functionalized copper nanoparticles and their application enhances disease resistance in chickpea against wilt pathogen

For effective use of curcumin in plant disease management, it is imperative to increase its solubility. Decreasing the particle size can increase the surface area and enhance solubility. Therefore, the present study aims to prepare curcumin copper nanoparticles (Cur-CuNPs) to improve its aqueous solubility to use as an antifungal agent and to protect chickpea plants from the devastating pathogen, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceri (FOC). The Cur-CuNPs were analyzed by H-1 NMR, C-13 NMR spectroscopy. The structure, size, morphology was characterized through FTIR, SEM, TEM and XRD analyses. The Cur-CuNPs synthesized in this study was found to be freely dispersible in water and inhibits the growth of FOC under in vitro condition, protects the chickpea plant from wilt disease. Application of Cur-CuNPs to chickpea seed influenced the growth parameters such as root, shoot length, number of leaves and dry weight. These results indicate that Cur-CuNPs can be integrated in disease management strategies as fungicide and as nanofertilizer to enhance chickpea plant health.