Abstract
<jats:p>The Aspergillus species are the potent and promising bio-objects for the fabrication of nanoparticles. Among them, Aspergillus nidulansand Aspergillus terreusare the ideal biocatalysts for the synthesis of AgNPs. The AgNPs were prepared in laboratory of Allied Health Sciences Department, Sarhad University, Peshawar. Whereas, the nanoparticles were characterized in Centralized Resource Laboratory (CRL), University of Peshawar. The tube test was used to analyze the antifungal activity of nanoparticles against pathogenic fungi (Dermatophyte, Malasseziaand Trichuristrichura). A noticeable visual change in color from colorless to a dark brown confirmed the formation of AgNPs. The SEM characterization of A. terreus-derived AgNPsshowed the presence of amorphous and distinctly asymmetrical particles. On the other hand, the SEM characterization of A. nidulansderived AgNPs showed anisotropic shapes i-e., spherical and triangular morphologies. The XRD pattern ofA. terreus-derived AgNPs exhibited a diffused pattern with no intense and clear peaks across the entire 2θ range from 5° to 80°, which showed that the AgNPs are amorphous. The synthesized AgNPs showed inhibitory activity against different fungal speciesincluding Malassezia(M-1), Malassezia (M-2), Dermatophyte (D-1), Dermatophyte (D2) and Trichuristrichiura(T-1) and Trichuristrichiura(T-2). The AgNPs synthesized using A. terreus specie showed highest inhibition rate (76.66 %) against Trichuristrichiura(T-1). Whereas, less inhibitory effect was observed against Malassezia(M-1). The A. nidulans synthesized AgNPs also showed inhibitory activity against the tested fungal species. In this case, highest antifungal activity was observed against Malassezia (M-2), followed by Dermatophyte (D-2).</jats:p>