Bioinspired Silica Nanoparticles for Enhanced Adhesion and Retention of Biomolecules: A Sustainable and Green Strategy for Disease Management.

The growing significance of sustainable agriculture is underscored by the escalating global demand for food and environmental degradation. Continuously adapting plant pathogens presents a significant challenge to sustainable agriculture, leading to substantial global crop losses. is widely distributed and poses a menace to a diverse range of economically important crops. Conventional delivery strategies for active molecules have a low utilization rate, leading to decreased bioavailability, thus reducing the overall efficacy. Utilizing stimulus-responsive carriers for biomolecule delivery into plants enhances efficiency against target pathogens, minimizes risks to nontarget organisms and the environment, and plays a crucial role in increasing active ingredient bioavailability, reducing application frequency. Here, we have prepared a nanobiopesticide composition with foliage-adhesive properties that shows release in pathological conditions, utilizing biocompatible Guar gum/Salicylic acid (GG/SA) as the encapsulating agent on silica nanoparticles (MSNPs) as the carrier, loaded with tannic acid (TA). In comparison to the naked biomolecule, the GG/SA encapsulation improves the deposition of tannic acid, and the contact angle on tomato leaves is decreased by 28°. The enhanced antiwashing efficiency of MSNP, compared to its naked biomolecule counterparts, can be attributed to low surface tension and van der Waals interactions. Different from free tannic acid, MSNP exhibited a responsive release in pathological conditions, leading to sustained and steady biomolecule release and prolonged persistence time. Moreover, the control efficacy of MSNP against was 94%. Also, they showed no cytotoxicity on NIH3T3 cells. This study anticipates improving the adhesion of biomolecules, maximizing the utilization efficiency with stimulus-responsive carriers, thereby addressing a significant application challenge in the field of agriculture, aligning with ecofriendly agricultural practices, presenting an economically viable option for farmers, and ensuring food safety.