Abstract
A recent study was aimed at determining the antifungal activity of chitosan in both its natural and nanopa rticle forms. The present study reports on the prepa ration and characterization of ch itosan nanop articles and chitosan nanoparticle-incorporated Mentha longifolia. The size of the chitosan nanoparticles was 157 nm, and the mint extraction nanoparticles at concen trat ions of 5%, 10% and 20% were 142, 105 and 63 nm respectively. The surfaces of the chi tosan nanoparticles had a positive charge of approximately 33.2 mV, and the mint extract chitosan nanoparticles at 5%, 10% and 20% had charges of approximately 37.5, 36.9 and 36.1 mV respectively. The chitosan nanoparticles had a maximum encapsulation efficiency of 92% at a mint extract concentration of 20%. Mint extract incorporation into chitosan nanoparticles resulted in increased antifungal effects against mycelium growth of A. niger.