الفهرس 
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Abstract
Nanoparticles (NPs) have attracted great interest in various fields owing to their antimicrobial activity; however, the use of NPs as fungicides on plants has not been sufficiently investigated. In this study, the antifungal activities of sulfur nanoparticles (S-NPs), copper nanoparticles (Cu-NPs), selenium nanoparticles (Se-NPs) and zinc oxide (ZnO-NPs) prepared by a green method were evaluated against Botrytis cinerea and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. The formation of NPs was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD). For the antifungal activities, S-NPs, Cu-NPs and Se-NPs were tested at concentrations (5–100 µg/mL), and ZnO-NPs were tested at concentrations in the range of (100-1000 µg/mL), ZnSO4 (4000 µg/mL), CuSO4 (4000 µg/mL), and micro sulfur (MS) at 1000 µg/mL and were compared to the recommended chemical fungicide Topsin-M 70 WP at 1000 µg/mL. They were evaluated in vitro and then in vivo at different temperatures (10 and 20 °C) on cucumber (Cucumis sativus) fruits. The total phenolic content (TPC) and total soluble solids (TSS) were determined to study the effects of various treatments on the shelf life of cucumber fruits, compared to the untreated cucumber fruits as a positive control. The diameters of S-NPs and Cu-NPs ranged from 10 to 50 nm, and from 2 to 12 nm, respectively, while those of Se-NPs and ZnO-NPs ranged from 32-69 nm, and 15 to 45 nm respectively. The results revealed that S-NPs exhibited the highest antifungal activity, followed by Cu-NPs, while Se-NPs were more effective in inhibiting fungal growth than the other treatments, followed by ZnO-NPs. However, CuSO4 and ZnSO4 showed the lowest antifungal activity among all treatments. The antifungal activity of the prepared NPs increased with the increase in NP concentration, while the fungal growth was less at low temperature. The cytotoxicity of the prepared NPs was evaluated against the WI-38 and Vero cell lines in order to assess their applicability and sustainability. S-NPs caused less cytotoxicity than Cu-NPs. While Se-NPs have higher cytotoxicity than ZnO-NPs, but Se-NPs was used at lower doses than ZnO-NPs.