A novel nanocomposite that effectively prevents powdery mildew infection in wheat

The rapidly growing world population is constantly increasing the demand for food. Being the second most consumed food crop, wheat hold an important economic position. However, powdery mildew is a disease that seriously affects the improvement in the yield and quality of wheat. Currently, triadimefon is the chemical pesticide that is predominantly used to prevent powdery mildew during wheat production. However, using triadimefon not only pollutes the environment, but also deteriorates the quality of harvested wheat grains. In this study, a nanocomposite complex with optimal montmorillonite and dimethyl silicone oil (OMM), which interact with each other through numerous hydrogen bonds. OMM was sprayed onto the surface of the wheat leaves to ensure a uniform nano isolation film that was found to effectively inhibit the contact germination of powdery mildew spores and reduce the disease index by 99.30%. OMM also significantly alleviated both physiological and biochemical stress of powdery mildew infection on the wheat. Furthermore, OMM treatment was found to significantly improve the processed quality of harvested grains. These results demonstrate that OMM treatment is an efficient and environmentally sustainable approach that is suitable for the large-scale prevention of powdery mildew infection in wheat.